Diversity report shows Apple workers mostly white and male

Apple's workforce is overwhelmingly white and male, according to a company report detailing the ethnic and gender makeup of its workers — a fact CEO Tim Cook is "not satisfied with."

Of Apple's 98,000 employees worldwide, 70 per cent are male. Among its U.S. workers, 55 per cent are white, 15 per cent are Asian, 11 per cent are Hispanic and 7 per cent are black.

More sobering is a snapshot of Apple's leadership, where 72 per cent are male and 64 per cent are white.

Apple is the latest tech titan to divulge the statistics. Others, like Google, Facebook and Twitter, reported nearly identical disparities this summer. The compilation has propelled debate over the lack of women, Hispanics and blacks in the tech industry to the forefront of Silicon Valley.

"As CEO, I’m not satisfied with the numbers on this page," Cook said in response to the report. "They are not new to us, and we’ve been working hard for quite some time to improve them. We are making progress, and we’re committed to being as innovative in advancing diversity as we are in developing our products."

Cook said diversity has been a focus as CEO — a position he has held since 2011 — and he is proud to have added more women to his senior team, including former Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts who is Apple's new retail chief.