Visa Vows to Increase Black, Latinx Leadership Ranks by 50%

Visa Inc. said it will seek to increase the number of U.S. Black and Latinx executives at the vice president level and higher by 50% in three years.

Within five years, it’s targeting a 50% boost in the number of under-represented colleagues companywide, Chief Executive Officer Al Kelly said in a memo to employees this week. The initial emphasis will be on increasing the ranks of Black employees, he said.

“Our top priority will be to transform our talent-acquisition strategy,” Kelly said. “As part of this transformation, we will establish a dedicated team to focus on attracting and sourcing top Black and African American talent, as well as top talent from other under-represented groups.”

As managers look to fill jobs, Visa is instituting a new expectation that all job-candidate slates be diverse, the company said. It’s also creating a quarterly business review that focuses on diversity and inclusion to track progress toward the goals.

Visa’s U.S. workforce is 41% Asian and 39% White, with Black employees making up just 6%. At the vice president level and above in the U.S., Black employees comprise 4% of executives.

Visa joins rival Mastercard Inc. in seeking to improve the diversity of its leadership ranks by setting targets. Companies across finance and other industries have been responding to public outcry over the killings of African Americans including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, which have led to growing awareness of systemic racism in the U.S.

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Jenny Surane in New York at jsurane4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net

Steve Dickson, Daniel Taub

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