Cultural Diversity in the Work Place
In today's work environment, it has become more evident and vital than ever to foster cultural diversity. Business organizations that want to stay in business are integrating their global and local business efforts along with cultural diversification. However, the path that leads to cultural diversity is not an easy one. Issues and conflicts may slow down, and even restrain, efforts to integrate cultural diversity in the workforce, but the need to embrace and make cultural diversity work is a sensible and attainable prospect.
Diversity refers to all those differences that can mark human beings such as age, nationality, language; color of skin and the way people behave due to different cultural background. Prejudice is an unreasonable attitude or bias regarding those differences.
Awareness of workforce diversity has been growing since the late 1980's, when the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Hudson Institute published "Workforce 2000." The report predicted major shortages of labor due to a drop in the nation's birth rate during the 1960's and 70's. Because the drop in birth rate was most profound among native-born Caucasian Americans, the report predicts a major shift in the demographics of the U.S. work force. White females, minorities and immigrants will comprise 85% of those entering the work force in the year 2000. This shift will change not just employment, but also benefits, advancement and other aspects of working in America.
As the workplace and marketplace continue to change, more and more companies are educating their employees on cultural diversity awareness. An underst ...