Snowflake CEO Says Diversity Goal Is Secondary in Hiring Choices

Snowflake Inc. Chief Executive Officer Frank Slootman said the cloud software maker needs to focus more on merit when hiring and promoting employees rather than diversity goals, even as it takes steps to boost opportunities for workers.

“We’re actually highly sympathetic to diversity but we just don’t want that to override merit. If I start doing that, I start compromising the company’s mission literally,” Slootman said Thursday in an interview on Bloomberg Television. Other CEOs feel the same way about the need to reach a more “moderated” approach to diversity, Slootman said, but are reluctant to say so publicly.

His ...