Still Making the Case Inclusivity
The U.S. workforce is facing a skills shortage that is a threat to the long-term health of our economy. Organizations are experiencing recruitment challenges with its traditional sources of labor. As I’ve noted consistently on this blog, efforts are being made to recruit more Hispanics into the workforce, but with limited success. In the short term, some organizations and industry are filling the skills gap using workers from low wage economies. To meet the challenge of the skills gap the recruitment of Hispanics is no longer simply a nice thing to do; it has become a necessity.
While recruitment remains important, there is a knowledge gap in translating qualifications into employment, and employment into retention. This has been described by the ‘leaky pipeline’ concept. Attraction by itself is not the key to increasing Hispanics in the workforce. Recruitment must be followed by induction of the new employee in order to improve retention levels. Job satisfaction as a result of opportunities and promotion is more likely to retain Hispanic professionals.
The “glass ceiling”, the situation where women and minorities can see, but not reach higher level positions and are prevented from progressing in their careers, still exists in many occupations and industries. As I’ve noted on this blog, there are very few Hispanic chairpersons, CEOs, or COOs in the United States. This ongoing fact is important because it raises the debate about the advancement in the subject of inclusivity, assessing the real barriers faced by Hispanic professionals today and discussing means of redressing the balance to improve inclusivity in organizations. Expanding inclusivity, which includes attracting and retaining more Hispanic professionals in all industry sectors, needs to be a key priority for organizations, particularly those in participating in a global economy.
A skilled Hispanic workforce is emerging. While it is clear that more still needs to be done to fully develop a professional Hispanic workforce, it is clear that there could be many more Hispanics if organizations adopted better recruitment and retention policies now.
When you use the phrase “labor shortage” or “skills shortage” you’re speaking in a sentence fragment. What you actually mean to say is: “There is a labor shortage at the salary level I’m willing to pay.” That statement is the correct phrase; the complete sentence and the intellectually honest statement.
Some people speak about shortages as though they represent some absolute, readily identifiable lack of desirable services. Price is rarely accorded its proper importance in their discussion.
If you start raising wages and improving working conditions, and continue doing so, you’ll solve your shortage and will have people lining up around the block to work for you even if you need to have huge piles of steaming manure hand-scooped on a blazing summer afternoon.
And if you think there’s going to be a shortage caused by employees retiring out of the workforce: Guess again: With the majority of retirement accounts down about 50% or more, most people entering retirement age are working well into their sunset years. So, you won’t be getting a worker shortage anytime soon due to retirees exiting the workforce.
Some specialized jobs require training and/or certification, again, the solution is higher wages and improved benefits. People will self-fund their re-education so that they can enter the industry in a work-ready state. The attractive wages, working conditions and career prospects of technology during the 1980’s and 1990’s was a prime example of people’s willingness to self-fund their own career re-education.
There is never enough of any good or service to satisfy all wants or desires. A buyer, or employer, must give up something to get something. They must pay the market price and forego whatever else he could have for the same price. The forces of supply and demand determine these prices — and the price of a skilled workman is no exception. The buyer can take it or leave it. However, those who choose to leave it (because of lack of funds or personal preference) must not cry shortage. The good is available at the market price. All goods and services are scarce, but scarcity and shortages are by no means synonymous. Scarcity is a regrettable and unavoidable fact.
Shortages are purely a function of price. The only way in which a shortage has existed, or ever will exist, is in cases where the “going price” has been held below the market-clearing price.
Juan – thank you very much for your comments. I appreciate your perspective on my post – particularly the function of price. Regarding your thoughts on delayed retirements and workers: I would suggest that working longer does not mean that individuals will stay in career jobs for another three, four, or five years. Some will, but some will not want to—and some will not be able to. In addition, organizational downsizing has hurt workers most in their late 40s, 50s, and early 60s. Companies in economic crisis are often in mature industries, and therefore have older work forces. Additionally, economic logic induces companies to “nudge” out older workers, who are put at a disadvantage by seniority-based pay systems and fringe benefit costs. Employer-financed health costs are higher for older workers. All of these facets of the pay system reduce older workers’ relative profitability.