From USA TODAY, experts predict a more diverse workforce by 2050. Which means Madison Avenue will probably start to consider addressing its diversity issues in about 42 years. Maybe.
Census data projects more diversity at work
By Emily Bazar and Paul Overberg, USA TODAY
The U.S. workforce will become increasingly diverse over the next three decades, a shift that could bring changes in education, training and public policy, according to a USA TODAY analysis of Census data released Thursday.
Racial and ethnic minorities in the USA will become a majority in 2042, but the working-age population — those 18 to 64 — will cross that threshold three years earlier, the projections say. By 2050, minorities will make up 55% of the working-age population. The share of the population that is working-age will drop steadily, from 63% to 57% in 2050.
“Not only are we going to have a relatively small workforce, but also one that’s more diverse,” says William Frey, demographer at the Brookings Institution in Washington. “We need to become very concerned about getting the proper education track for those in the pipeline.”
In 2050, the working-age population will be 30% Hispanic, 12% non-Hispanic black and 8% non-Hispanic Asian. Today, the breakdown is 15% Hispanic, 12% black and 5% Asian.
Mark Mather, who studies U.S. demographic trends at the Population Reference Bureau, a research group, says the greatest concentration of minorities now is in the group younger than 18.
Lawmakers must address the needs of immigrants’ children in particular, he says, because immigrant groups often experience high rates of poverty and work in low-skilled jobs. “The challenge for policymakers is to make sure that, especially for children, they have all the opportunities and resources they need to become productive adults,” he says.
Jeffrey Passel, senior demographer at the Pew Hispanic Center, whose analysis of Census data in February reached similar conclusions, says the U.S.-born children and grandchildren of immigrants will account for much of the growth in minorities, and they will be more educated than their parents.
“More and more of the Hispanic population is going to be native in the future,” he says. “These are people who have grown up here, gone to American schools and grown up speaking English.”
Growing workforce diversity must be addressed by employers, says David Grinberg, spokesman for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
“The workplace is a microcosm of society,” he says. “Employers need to be mindful and aware of these changes and implement workplace policies that are non-discriminatory.”
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