Apple claims achieving equal pay for men and women

Apple said it had achieved its goal of establishing equal pay for women and men, and it was also becoming more diverse by increasing hiring of non-whites  and women.

"We've achieved equal pay in the United States for similar roles and performance," reads an Apple report. "Women earn one dollar for every dollar male employees earn. And underrepresented minorities earn one dollar for every dollar white employees earn."

Apple continues to be dominated by white males, with whites comprising 56 per cent of the US work force, and 68 per cent of its global work force.

However, Apple said the company was getting better, adding that only 32 per cent of its global work force was made up of women, though they represented 37 per cent of new hires around the world. This was an improvement from 2014, when women represented 31 per cent of new hires.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said last year that diversity was a "readily solvable issue" that could be fixed and he particularly wanted to hire more women.

However, there was some push-back from Apple's board, who criticised a proposal to increase diversity among its board and senior management as "unduly burdensome."

The proposal was voted down by investors in March. Apple's board and senior management remained predominately male and white.

There was also a similar lack of movement in ethnic diversity among the leadership, which was 67 per cent white this year.

Last year, the management was reported being 63 per cent white and while the figures might represent less ethnic diversity, they could also be the result of a more intensive reporting process say commentators.

There was no ''undeclared'' ethnic category in the report (it existed in the 2015 and 2014), for the first time, meaning that some of the employees who previously chose not report their ethnicities might have been white, creating the illusion that the organisation had regressed.