What they clearly are obsessed about is hiring literally not a single person who is middle age or above.
http://imgur.com/a/ZsS81 They are so ageist it boggles the mind.
That pictures a bit old, but even still there're at least a handful of "middle aged or above" people shown. Also, I started working at Lever after this photo was taken. Not only am I middle-aged, but there are plenty of us here who are.
Not the OP, but if you ask me, I'd say that society as a whole has a very obsession-like fixation on equality of all kinds. It is the absolute hot-topic being injected into almost every discussion and field. From the other side as well because there are people that opposed to the way it's being forced-upon individuals/companies.
It has come to a point where dissenting opinions on the matter are actively vilified and who knows what other forms of actual discrimination. I guarantee you that I would treat every person I interact with with absolute courtesy and respect their known boundaries in all aspects except their opinions. And I am reasonably sure that there are hiring teams out there that would skip me because they'd find my comments distasteful or worse. "Culture fit"
It actively rewards companies for hiring non-white individuals (and white individuals are a minority here). Such a company would gain preferential access to government contracts via a "point based" system that influences their choice in employees/owners and suppliers. It's really just a proxy for coercing companies into hiring for quotas rather than actual talent/availability, and for preferring suppliers based on their black-ownership rather than their ability to deliver. This sort of thing spiders-out into the overall economy outside of just government contracts.
> The obsession with having an even split…
Does it strike you that the article is describing an obsession? It seems like a strong word, used pejoratively in this case.
To me, the article is described an unusual and thoughtful approach that led to surprising results.