<sigh>

Doesn’t this statement actually buttress the original point?

People cannot speak their minds – irrespective of the logic and reason – for fear of politically-correct backlash :-S

SPF

https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2021/06/08/snowflake-ceo-walks-back-remarks-about-diversity.html

Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman walks back remarks about diversity, hiring

TODD JOHNSON | SAN FRANCISCO BUSINESS TIMES

By Cromwell Schubarth  –  TechFlash Editor, Silicon Valley Business Journal

Jun 8, 2021 Updated Jun 8, 2021, 8:46am PDT

Snowflake Inc. CEO Frank Slootman apologized in a blog posted on Monday about comments he made to Bloomberg TV last week in which he said diversity should be secondary to merit in hiring.

Slootman set off a storm of criticism when he told Bloomberg that a more “moderated” approach is needed to ensure diversity doesn't override merit in hiring and promoting employees. He said that other CEOs felt the same way, but were reluctant to speak publicly.

But on Monday the CEO of the cloud database company said his comments were misinterpreted.

“Comments I made during a media interview last week may have led some to infer that I believe that diversity and merit are mutually exclusive when it comes to recruitment, hiring and promotion. I do not believe this, and I want to personally apologize to anyone who may have been hurt or offended by my comments,” Slootman, who has been working from Bozeman, Montana, said in the company blog. “I accept full and personal responsibility for the lack of clarity in my comments.”

Slootman's comments last week ran counter to where most of corporate America has been headed, with many companies pledging to make their companies more closely mirror the nation’s demographics. There's been a record number of diversity-related proposals offered by shareholders at annual meetings this year.

Ellen Pao, the founder of Project Include, a nonprofit working for greater diversity in the tech industry, was among those who blasted Slootman last week.

“Good luck hiring with your bias against change," she said in a tweet. "It’s not just the ‘liberals of Silicon Valley’ who care about a diverse workforce. 76% of employees and job seekers called it important and 79% of new graduates called it ‘very important.’”

Until recently, Snowflake was headquartered in San Mateo. It now designates an address in Bozeman, Montana, as its new “principal executive office" where Slootman and CFO Mike Scarpelli have been working.

The company has about 2,500 employees and has said that it expects to maintain a large presence in Silicon Valley.