Amazon aims to double U.S. Black employees in leadership this year

April 14 (Reuters) - Amazon.com said on Wednesday it was aiming to double the number of Black employees in senior leadership roles and hire 30% more Black people as corporate employees in the United States this year.

Amazon data shows U.S. Black employees in leadership roles accounted for 3.8% last year.

The Seattle-based firm is also targeting to have 30% more women in tech and science related senior leadership roles in 2021.

A manager at the online retailer sued the firm last month for harassment and discrimination, saying it hires Black people for lower positions and promotion comes later for them than white workers.

At the time, Amazon said it was investigating the claims. It said it strives for an equitable culture and has no tolerance for discrimination: "These allegations do not reflect those efforts or our values."

Women comprised 31.4% of Amazon's U.S. corporate employees in 2020, while it had 22.8% women in senior leadership roles. (Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru and Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)