Immigrants
in the U.S. are the bedrock of its economy. Diversity has been one of the
country’s hallmarks, being a nation of immigrants. This has contributed to the
growth and progress of the nation, for as Gary Shapiro wrote for the US News, Immigrating to the U.S. to create a better
life is a mindset that encourages our best and brightest, regardless of their
backgrounds or birthrights, to rise to the top. The diverse histories
immigrants bring with them to our shores contribute new perspectives and great
ideas.
However,
diversity has also been a perennial issue, specifically in the workplace,
despite huge efforts by private, government and business organizations to keep diversity working in the American
society.
Discrimination
and racism remain persistent problems hounding minority job applicants and
employees. The USA Today recently reported that, based on a study
made by the Kapor Center for Social Impact and Harris Poll, toxic workplaces — where harassment,
stereotyping and bullying occur — are driving away women and people of
color, undercutting technology companies' efforts to increase diversity and
costing an estimated $16 billion a year.
This
report describes the situation in the tech field, but these negative behaviors
do occur in other industries, too.
Considering
now the anti-immigrant stance of the current government, what new challenges to workplace diversity
are there that need attention and resolution?
*The
administration’s anti-immigration policy is affecting immigrant workers, many
of whom are employed by diversity companies;
*White
people feel marginalized too, mostly older, non-college whites supported
Trump, for they felt immigrants and minorities were taking jobs away from them;
*
Although not exactly a new challenge, but generational diversity in the
workplace challenges companies to think of new ways to practice inclusion as
part of their diversity efforts
First,
specifically, this is how the Trump immigration policy is impacting one of the fastest growing demographic groups
in the U.S. As of 2016, there were 21 million Asians in the United States.
Their population grew at 3.4 percent
between July 2014 and 2015, with migration responsible for the majority of the
growth.
For
most Asians coming to the U.S., becoming an American citizen is the utmost
goal. American citizenship is the pathway to a
brighter future, not only for themselves, but also for family and
relatives back home. Armed with citizenship, Asian Americans can bring over relatives or get federal
government jobs.
Now
with the government cracking down on illegal immigrants, more so has American
citizenship become like a safe harbor,
free from being deported.
But
for the undocumented who fear that their great American
dream will be taken away from them, the government’s visa crackdown is one nightmare of uncertainty.
So
what happens to workplaces when a great number of immigrants for that matter,
are deported? What challenges does this situation bring about?
As
an example, the restaurant and food services industry stands to lose a lot of
immigrant workers, being a sector said to depend much on the labor of undocumented
aliens: Eleven percent of
all U.S. restaurant and bar employees are undocumented immigrants, according to
the Pew Research Center. At current industry employment levels, that translates
to roughly 1.3 million people.
It
is suggested then that immigrants who work hard, pay their taxes, and abide by
the laws should be assisted in legalizing their stay in the country:
“The
restaurant industry may be the most ethnically diverse industry there is, in
large part because of immigrants who have brought culture, food, and flavor to
our communities and neighborhoods. When these immigrants are hard-working,
tax-paying, productive, law-abiding individuals, we should help them succeed by
providing a path to legalization,” Jot Condi, president and CEO of the
California Restaurant Association said in an emailed statement, the San Diego
Union Tribune reported.
If
most immigrants are to be deported, the restaurant industry will collapse. This
was clearly demonstrated by “A Day Without Immigrants” protest
last February, when most businesses, not only in the restaurant and food
services sector, shut down because their immigrant workers and owners refused
to work in protest of the new government’s anti-immigration stance.
Here
is an excerpt from How Restaurants Hire Undocumented Workers:
Just one day without immigrants cost the restaurant industry a huge hit to its profits, and some experts predict that without undocumented labor, the price of food will increase up to six percent... or worse, that there won’t be enough food for us all to eat due to labor shortages. “Immigrants feed this country,” says Noelle Lindsay Stewart, a former D.C. line cook and the communications manager for Define American, a media company focused on immigrant rights and identity. “They cultivate our produce; they cook our food. The food industry wouldn’t be possible in the way it is without them.”
Other industries that rely heavily
on undocumented workers, based on 2014 data from the Pew Research Center,
include:
*Construction,
with 1.3 million unauthorized immigrant workers;
*Building
services – 300,000;
*Landscaping
– 300,000;
*Agriculture,
crop production – 275,000
Together
with 1.1 million in bars, restaurants and food services, that makes up a total
of 7.9 million illegal immigrant workers.
A
big challenge for workplaces has always been how to balance between employing
immigrants and not running afoul with the law. See this regarding what employers need to know when hiring
foreign workers.
In line with this is also the ever-present challenge
to heed the call to promote diversity
and inclusion.
But
the problem now becomes more complicated with Pres. Trump’s sweeping immigration enforcement directives which
will allow for far more expulsions, and unleash the full force of the federal
government to find, arrest and deport those in the country illegally,
regardless of whether they have committed serious crimes.
Most
people tend to think of diversity mostly in terms of people of color and women
as the oft-marginalized sectors, but as the recent presidential election showed, the white working-class, many of whom are non-college graduates, have also long felt being marginalized. Workplaces in the time of Trump
are faced with the burden of ensuring that everyone feels included, regardless
of race/ethnicity, skin color, disability, gender, sexual orientation, veteran
status, religious and political affiliation, and the like.
However,
with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission having as acting chair someone
reported to have a history of voting against a number of anti-discrimination
lawsuits, the future looks uncertain:
*Would
the EEOC continue to provide an opportunity for victims of workplace
discrimination and harassment seeking redress?
*Would
there be a rise in discrimination against the oft-marginalized sectors: women,
people of color, LGBTs, disabled, and veterans?
*Would
there be freedom to create policies
potentially beholden only to the American workers who put Mr. Trump into office,
as one opinion
article suggests?
Victoria
Lipnic, designated by Pres. Trump to be EEOC’s acting chair, voted against a quarter of the 77 lawsuits
that came before the commission since 2010. Other cases involved discrimination
against African immigrants, a young man with an intellectual disability turned
down for a Salvation Army thrift store job and men who have beards for
religious reasons. Half of her no votes came in disability cases, a news
report by Reveal News shows.
The
same news also reported that Ms. Lipnic had said she’d like to see more of the commission’s cases come to a vote before
they are brought to court. That means more cases could be killed.
Ms.
Lipnic announced
in her 1st speech she hoped that
EEOC would increase its focus on age discrimination and equal pay issues and on
job creation.
Indeed,
age discrimination is a problem many mature workers experience, so it is only
fair and right that this issue be given enough attention. Not only do mature
workers find it difficult to get a new job, especially when out of work, but
they are also bypassed for promotions. Prejudice and false notions about their
skills and capabilities are a common reason for this.
Which
brings us to the third challenge in the workplace: that of making generational
diversity in the workplace work for everyone involved. And so, according to this article, forward-thinking workplaces are addressing generational differences
through training and open forums.[…] In
addition, companies are also taking action by making impressive changes to
employment policies, performance management programs, recognition programs and
benefits. Their focus is not about pleasing any particular generation but
enhancing the work environment to improve the probability of attracting and
keeping top performers across all generations.
An article by Forbes suggests that diversity and inclusion must be seen as an investment and be
placed where it belongs – in the center of all growth strategies.
True.
Diversity and inclusion have been shown to drive businesses to economic progress.
It is time, indeed, to treat every individual worker as deserving and capable
of work, no matter what their backgrounds, perspectives, beliefs and opinions
may be. More than just merely complying with the law, and meeting quotas, workplaces should do their utmost to sincerely cultivate and keep a just, safe, equitable work environment, sans harassment, racism, sexism, and other ills.
