Intel Commits $100m To Buy From Women-Owned Businesses

Intel has committed $100 million (£77m) to spend with businesses owned by women as a means to embrace more diversity and inclusiveness in its operations.

The chip maker believes that through spending more with female-owned businesses it can use its supply chain to foster more “economic empowerment” in underrepresented minority groups.

“Diversity and inclusion are critical underpinnings to our constantly evolving culture at Intel,” said Barbara Whye, Intel chief diversity and inclusion officer and vice president of human resources.

“They accelerate our ability to consistently innovate and drive the business forward. Supplier diversity adds tremendously to our competitive advantage while stimulating growth in a global marketplace.”

Sourcing diversity

The financial commitment builds upon Intel’s 2015 move to increase its spending with more diverse suppliers to $1 billion (£777m) a year by 2020.

Intel noted that it understands that companies owned by more diverse people are likely to hire staff from diverse backgrounds, and as such by spending more money with such businesses, it see potential to fulled diversity in the technology world as a whole.

Diversity has been pushed up Intel’s agenda since it committed £300 million (£233m) to funding diversity and inclusion in its corporate mass.

The company is now investing in the hiring and retention of diverse staff in its midst, while also funding external education programs, university partnership and supporting entrepreneurs from underrepresented backgrounds into getting into the technology industry.

Diversity in the technology industry, one notably dominated by male workers, is a challenge that many firms are now trying to overcome, particularly when it comes to employing more women; PwC has an apprenticeship to bring more women into IT for example.

LogRhythm’s Chris Brazdziunas, vice president of products at the security intelligence company, recently spoke to Silicon about the potential for the cyber security world to offer women high-flying careers in the IT world.

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