eBay hires Uber's head of diversity as part of inclusion push

Auction bidding site eBay has hired its first chief diversity officer from Uber, as it tries to improve diversity and inclusion at the company.

Damien Hooper-Campbell will work with the senior VP of human resources and chief people officer, Kristin Yetto, after working as Uber's global head of diversity for a year - he previously worked as a diversity business partner and community strategist for Google's diversity, integrity and governance division.

"eBay is one of the pioneers in harnessing technology to level the playing field by creating a global marketplace that is truly inclusive and diverse," Hooper-Campbell said. "I look forward to leading eBay's efforts to foster an even more diverse workforce and inclusive workplace, which I believe can contribute to increased innovation and even better engagement with eBay's hundreds of millions of buyers and sellers around the world."

The company released diversity statistics in 2014, stating it was committed to attracting more women, racial minorities and LGBT people to its workforce.

The report showed the company's workforce consisting of 42 per cent women (24 per cent in tech roles, 49 per cent in non-tech roles, and 28 per cent of women in leadership roles). Tech positions were made up of 40 per cent white, 55 per cent Asian, two per cent black and two per cent Hispanic employees.

A year later, the number of women in both tech and non-tech roles remained the same, though the number of female leaders at the company ticked up slightly to 29 per cent. Tech positions were made up of 39 per cent white and 56 per cent Asian people, though numbers of black and Hispanic employees remained the same.

Devin Wenig, president and CEO of eBay, said: "Since our founding, the power of inclusion, diversity and opportunity has been a central part of eBay's cultural values, our purpose and business success. Damien's experience, insights and leadership will enable us to build further on the strong foundation we have established over many years and advance eBay's diversity and inclusion commitment to a new level."

Image via eBay.

Caroline Preece

Caroline has been writing about technology for more than a decade, switching between consumer smart home news and reviews and in-depth B2B industry coverage. In addition to her work for IT Pro and Cloud Pro, she has contributed to a number of titles including Expert Reviews, TechRadar, The Week and many more. She is currently the smart home editor across Future Publishing's homes titles.

You can get in touch with Caroline via email at caroline.preece@futurenet.com.