Fostering a Culture of Diversity, Belonging and Inclusion at AMD
By: Adrienne Anderson, Senior Manager, Diversity, Belonging and Inclusion at AMD
Originally published in AMD 2021-22 Corporate Responsibility Report
Diversity and inclusion are key drivers that contribute to our ability to build great products that accelerate next-generation computing experiences. Research shows that businesses with diverse teams are more innovative, make better decisions and achieve higher performance. Inclusion initiatives foster a work environment that enables all employees to participate and thrive, which in turn creates a sense of community and purpose – what we at AMD call “belonging.”
As the technology industry and our role in society continue to grow, it is essential that we support the next generation of innovators, whose diverse backgrounds can help create technological solutions for some of the world’s toughest challenges. In particular, Black and Hispanic workers remain underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workforce. Women are also significantly under-represented in STEM occupations, making up a quarter or fewer of the workers in computing and engineering.1 While the tech sector has taken steps to make progress in recent years, it still has significant work to do.
At AMD, we see it as both a challenge and an opportunity for us to create a diverse workforce and promote a culture of belonging and inclusion.
Our Approach
We are committed to growing diversity, belonging and inclusion (DB&I) in our workforce to help embrace different viewpoints and experiences, foster innovation, challenge the status quo when needed and drive business performance. To achieve our aspirations, we want a strong culture that reaches across all aspects of our business.
Our DB&I approach includes:
- Listening to our employees through our annual AMDer Survey and curated groups;
- Deepening our relationships in the United States with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs);
- Working to reduce unconscious bias in the workplace by educating our global workforce on the power of multiple voices in driving innovation. We educate employees on how a workplace of inclusion positively impacts the products we develop and the day-to-day experiences of our employees, and we also highlight the strength of diversity in the interviewing and promotions processes;
- Evaluating employee compensation programs annually so that colleagues performing similar work in the same geographic area and at the same level have equitable compensation opportunities; and
- Ensuring that every AMDer around the globe has the opportunity to amplify their unique voice to contribute to our company’s success.
By building a diverse talent pipeline, encouraging a culture of respect and belonging, and increasing the inclusion of under-represented groups, we will make AMD stronger. We will elevate our talent and improve business outcomes by encouraging employees to bring their whole selves to work. Our Multi-Voice Initiative encourages and supports all AMDers who champion and when needed, challenge our company culture with their unique perspective.
What we are doing is working. In our annual AMDer Survey, we ask multiple questions on how our culture and processes support our commitment to DB&I. We invited 100 percent of our employees to participate in our 2021 AMDer Survey, and 96 percent responded. Their responses to those questions and the overall index score are in the top 10 percent of global companies within the tech industry. In 2021 and 2022, we were recognized by the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index and the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index as a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality.
Goal and Progress
We have set a public goal and are committed to making meaningful progress to foster DB&I at AMD.
- 70 percent of our employees to participate in AMD employee resource groups and/or other AMD inclusion initiatives by 2025. 2
- ON TRACK: In 2021, 52 percent of AMD employees contributed to activities under this goal due to an increase in ERG membership, employee volunteers and charitable donors.
AMD is also committed to increasing the percentage of global female hires in engineering roles and the percentage of the under-represented group (URG) hires within our U.S. workforce year over year. In 2021, we made these efforts a component of our company’s strategic metrics and milestones to inform our annual incentive plan, which is a compensation element of our Total Rewards Program. We are pleased to share that in 2021 we exceeded the hiring goals we set, leading to a 1 percent increase in the total population of AMD female engineers and a 1.6 percent increase in our URG focus areas overall. In 2022, we will continue these efforts for inclusion as a component of our company’s strategic metrics and milestones.
Following the close of our acquisition of Xilinx in February 2022 and the creation of a new business unit called Adaptive and Embedded Computing Group (AECG), we are focused on the integration of our new employees and expanding our DB&I program and initiatives across our larger company. As part of this work, we will re-set our internal DB&I hiring goals in 2022 based on our current company population representation.
For more information on diversity, belonging and inclusion programs and initiatives at AMD, please visit our website.
Footnotes:
- https://www.aauw.org/resources/research/the-stem-gap/
- These are voluntary initiatives in which an employee chooses to actively participate in one or more employee engagement programs that foster a culture of belonging, psychological safety and meaningful connection to AMD.
