NEW YORK – More than three-quarters (76 percent) of U.S. workers report to a Caucasian boss and just one-third (34 percent) state their boss is a woman, according to a new Hudson survey. At the same time, less than half (43 percent) of employees indicate that there is racial, ethnic and gender diversity on their company’s executive team.
Despite these gaps in diversity, among all workers, only half (47 percent) are employed by an organization with a formal diversity initiative, leaving 53 percent of the work force at companies without them or unsure if their employer has one.
Furthermore, U.S. workers are still torn on the ability of these programs to create salary and job advancement opportunities for women and minorities, as approximately one-third (31 percent) believe they do, one-third (35 percent) think they do not, and one-third (33 percent) are not sure of their impact.
When asked about diversity at work, most employees agree that having a diverse workforce is “very important” (39 percent) or “somewhat important” (31 percent). The number who consider it to be “very important” spikes to 65 percent for African-Americans and 51 percent for Hispanics.
“Despite the clear need for more diversity in the workplace, particularly in supervisory and leadership roles, some employers continue to struggle with implementing diversity programs and creating an inclusive environment that embraces all workers regardless of race, gender, age, sexual preference or ethnicity,” said Jessica Priego Lopez, director, Diversity & Inclusion Practice, Hudson North America. “The global forces affecting businesses make diversity of talent and diversity of thought an absolute necessity, and very soon, companies will have a hard time remaining competitive if they do not succeed in recruiting, retaining and developing workers from diverse backgrounds.”
Additional survey findings include:
• One-fifth (19 percent) of the work force knows someone who they believe was denied a job, promotion or pay increase because of that individual’s race or ethnicity. That figure more than doubles to 46 percent for African-American workers who believe they know of someone who has been the victim of this sort of discrimination.
• Twenty-two percent of employees know someone who they think was denied a job, promotion or pay increase because of their gender.
• Government employees are among the most likely to have a female boss, as 43 percent report to a woman.
• Employees of larger companies (more than 500 employees) are more likely to report that their organization has a formal diversity initiative and a diverse executive team than people who work for smaller organizations.
About the Survey
The Hudson diversity in the workplace survey is based on a national poll of 4,825 U.S. workers conducted January 2-9, 2007 and was compiled by Rasmussen Reports, LLC, an independent research firm (www.RasmussenReports.com). The margin of sampling error for a survey based on this number of interviews is approximately +/-2.4 percent with a 95 percent level of confidence. A more detailed data report is available at www.hudson-index.com.
Hudson, one of the world’s leading professional staffing, outsourcing and talent management solutions providers, also publishes the Hudson Employment IndexSM, a monthly measure of the U.S. work force’s confidence in the employment market. The next Hudson Employment Index will be released on January 31.
