“We may come from different places and have different stories, but we share common hopes, and one very American dream.” – Former President Barack Obama***
Introduction
In the late 90s diversity and inclusion (D&I) initiatives began gaining ground in the corporate arena. It was at this time that I was promoted into a diversity leadership role in the hospital where I was employed. The CEO and other executives were extremely supportive and vocal about the creation of the new position. They made sure every employee and every leader was made aware of the organization’s position on diversity, the new position being created to support the work and the importance that diversity and inclusion would play in the mission and vision of the organization. It was impressive. I had never imagined that the organization would be so forward thinking as to create such a position, let alone hire me into the role. I had functioned in collaboration with others to advance the D&I work through our diversity council for a number of years and having been the primary Human Resources representative on the council I was able to really get exposed to a variety of cross sections of diversity and organizational need. The position was a dream come true. Once I was in the job, the real work began!
The early days of being in a position like that, where no such job had previously existed, meant spending time designing and developing structures, partnerships, role clarification and internal outreach. It was fun but I always felt it necessary to have an understanding of the work and the rationale so I could articulate it. One of the most meaningful phenomena I would grapple with in that position was how people think about some very significant issues. I even remember the congratulations and corresponding comments early on from individuals whom I had worked with in different capacities.
“Hi Cynthia. Hey, congratulations on your new position! So how much work do you really have to do now anyway?”
“Why do we really need to focus on differences? Like why do Black people need to have their own professional groups and magazines? Why can’t they participate in and read the same ones the rest of us have?”
Like I said, once I was in the job, the real work began! I had to formulate answers to this form of questioning to help others realize that while their thoughts and perceptions were simple, from the perspective of others, including myself, there are more underlying truths to their inquiries than meets the eye. It was not easy but in each of these cases, I needed to help my “friends” understand that their world view did not always encapsulate my world view or the world view of others. People are not always content living life through the vantage points and comforts of others. They want their own world and their own comforts and don’t want to have to apologize for it.
It was just prior to this timeframe that the Hudson Institute, at the request of the U.S. Department of Labor, published “Workforce 2000 Report” researched and written by two research fellows, William Johnston and Arnold Packer Sr. This report informed the American public of the impending workforce and economic changes that were forthcoming for the U.S. population. This document served as a catalyst for many U.S. businesses and educational institutions to begin working to educate, re-educate, plan and prepare for the eminent demographic changes and challenges. Diversity initiatives were launched or if they already existed, gained momentum as their importance and value became more evident. So where are we now?
Highlights of the Hudson Institute’s Workforce 2000 Report
Let’s first look at the data included in the Workforce 2000 Report. It highlighted four key trends that would shape the end of the 20th century. They were:
- The American economy should grow at a relatively healthy pace, boosted by a rebound in U.S. exports, renewed productivity growth, and a strong world economy.
- Despite its international comeback, U.S. manufacturing will be a much smaller share of the economy in the year 2000 than it is today. Service industries will create all of the new jobs, and most of the new wealth over the next 13 years.
- The workforce will grow slowly, becoming older, more female, and more disadvantaged. Only 15 percent of the new entrants to the labor force over the next 13 years will be native while males, compared to 47 percent in that category today.
- The new jobs in service industries will demand much higher skill levels than the jobs of today. Very few new jobs will be created for those who cannot read, follow directions, and use mathematics. Ironically the demographic trends in the workforce, coupled with the higher skill requirements of the economy, will lead to both higher and lower unemployment: more joblessness among the least-skilled and less among the most educationally advantaged
Demographic Facts Conveyed by Workforce 2000 Report
- The population would grow more slowly than at any time since the 1930s
- The average age of the population and workforce would rise and the pool of young workers entering the labor market will shrink
- More women would enter the workforce
- [People of color] would be a larger share of the entrants into the labor force
- Immigrants would represent the largest share of the increase in the population and the workforce since WWI
In the Foreword to the Workforce 2000 Report, then President Reagan, wrote:
“The quest for excellence in the twenty-first century begins in the schoolroom, but we must go next to the workplace. More than 20 million new jobs will be created before the new century unfolds and by then our economy should be able to provide a job for everyone who wants to work. We must enable our workers to adapt to the rapidly changing nature of the workplace.”
How Far Have We Actually Come Since the Workforce 2000 Report?
For the most part, you won’t find much opposition to the projections that were made. Since then the we have hit numerous mild stones including one shared by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2013, for the first time in American history, the majority of infants under the age of one in the U.S., were non-white, with over 50% having at least one parent of color.
The decreases seen in the non-Hispanic white population across the country are primarily due to immigration, racial and ethnic intermarriage and the rate of deaths among White Americans being higher than the rate of births among the same population. We know that manufacturing has significantly been reduced across the country and more and more young workers are choosing to pursue entrepreneurial ventures and self-employment earlier in their careers than was the case with earlier generations. Older workers have remained a part of the workforce much longer than expected, and more women, immigrants and people of color have entered the workforce and pursued higher education.
In 2008 President Barack Obama presented the changing demographics and workforce variations as representative of Hope and Change. In 2018 and the preceding year’s presidential election Donald Trump began to respond to these demographic truths by packaging them in fearful rhetoric for the portion of the American population that struggles with the inevitable. He touted the need to “make America great again,” with an insinuation that demographic trends and population shifts could and should be undone so we could return to the days of old.
Unfortunately progress does not travel backward it moves forward with steady progression. To prove my point, the Google Dictionary defines Progress as developing or moving gradually towards a more advanced state. The Cambridge Dictionary defines it as “the act of changing to the next stage of development.”
As more truths unfold, another interesting point is that in 2018 the Census Bureau was predicting that by 2030 immigrant births would be the dominant driver of population growth and that by 2044 non-Hispanic Whites would no longer be the majority population in America. All other populations are expected to increase in size with Hispanic and Asian populations increasing more than all others. This gives insight into rationale or fears behind immigration and immigration reform.
Chief Economist Jed Kolko, shared in a 2018 Twitter post that the most common age for white Americans as of June 2018 was age 58, African Americans – 27, Asians – 29 and Hispanics – 11. With these numbers, which were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau, we see the aging and steady decline of the white American population and the continually growing populations of color.
Change is Inevitable
The change is already underway. It is one of those things that people in leadership have to look at and say, “Regardless how I feel about these changes, I have to accept it as the reality that it is and develop a plan for success.” No sense getting diabolical and attempting to thwart reality. Regardless of how you may feel about President Trump, he is the result of individuals who did not expect the younger, more diverse American population to vote the first African American President into office. Regardless of how they felt, that vote happened…twice… and there are more amazing, historic voter turnouts and accomplishments to come; but now maybe you will have a better idea why things have progressed the way they have and why voters have to recognize their power and the need for strong voter turnout. Change!
Closing Thoughts
Age and diversity will continue to drive change and progress. They will also define whether we see change as a vehicle of Hope or as a wagon of time travel for restoration of the past. If you do your study, you know it’s the former. The desire for change and the changing population is what drove the MeToo Movement, the immigration fight and Black Lives Matter. The desire for change and the changing population is working to carry us into a different future, a better future. “Regardless of how we feel about these changes, we have to accept it as the reality that it is and develop a plan for success.”
Following the Workforce 2000 Report, organizations took a number of steps to implement strategies and initiate diversity and change initiatives but I’m not sure we moved the needle enough. No, I’m sure we didn’t move the needle enough. I am comforted by the reality that younger generations and diverse generations of today and tomorrow are not letting it go. They are keeping us in a progressive state, where we may have slowed.