What comes to mind when one thinks of companies? Are they diverse in different backgrounds such as gender, race, and sexual preference? Are companies hiring because Affirmative Action laws and regulations? With Affirmative Action, companies are required to hire people with different backgrounds, thus creating diversity. Many people that are qualified have lost their job because of Affirminative Actions. By hiring a diverse work force, people believe they have a better understanding of minorities. Affirmative Action even wants companies to hire minorities that are not qualified for positions that are open. Does Affirmative Action really make equal employment or is it the government’s way to make minorities happy about gaining employment? Today, Affirmative Action might be viewed differently. Is United State’s employment equal in today’s society as compared with previous generations?
Former vice president of Hewlett-Packard, Kim Box, wrote an article for the Sacramento Bee about diversity and how it is imperative in keeping California California
A great example of unequal employment comes from the movie, The Toy. In this movie, an African American reporter tries to obtain a job with the best newspaper company in town; yet the paper refuses to employ him because the color of his skin. The reporter had the experience and could bring new ideas and views to the paper; this did not help his cause. The difference between this movie and reality is that at the end of the movie the African American reporter ended up getting the position of reporter because of how he brought the owner and his son together. In reality, this does not always happen. People often have to search elsewhere to find jobs.
Kim Box states that hiring diverse teams can better mirror the customer base. However, she omits statistics of how much better these companies can do, when targeting a variety of audiences. Box may have a bias against the 141 businesses where there are no women among their directors and/or executives since she was the Vice President of Hewlett-Packard. However, Box does bring up interesting points about diversity. For example, Kim Box states that “diversity is a well-discussed topic among the business world, evidence shows progress is severely lacking.” This could mean even if companies suggest they are diverse, evidence against these suggestions are not present. Additionally, she suggest that “diverse groups will have insights and experiences to complement and challenge one another.” People of different backgrounds have different knowledge for products and ideas which will bring a new focus for the companies.
There are a few arguments on Affirmative Action. Two arguments for Affirmative Action are “advocates for the diversity rationale argue that society as a whole benefits when affirmative action is used to maintain diverse schools, workplaces, and businesses. According to this argument, people from different backgrounds, cultures, and genders bring complementary skills that collectively enrich the places where they work and learn” (Affirmative Action). Those against the ideals of Affirmative Action argue that it is wrong to allocate social benefits on the basis of immutable characteristics, such as race or gender (Affirmative Action). There are arguments for equal employment as well. According to The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees “AFCME”, the “working conditions and physical effort are two of the factors that are commonly looked at in a pay equity study.” They later suggest that “all jobs, regardless of whether they are performed primarily by men or by women, should be paid based on the level of skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions required by the job.” AFCME arguments against this by suggesting, “some men get paid more because they have dangerous jobs or jobs which demand physical strength.” In today’s society, equal employment has changed as compared to that of previous generations. This is due to no longer needing to segregate jobs from minorities. Working conditions, physical and ideological ideas come into play such as the skill level of minorities have over the majority. However, Affirmative Action is still happening today for employment and education. With Affirmative Action, there could still be unfair treatment of minority employees by promoting them to positions to gain federal grants or leaving them at entry level positions. People are still turned away even if they meet the required needs of the company which creates legal problems.
Works Cited
"Affirmative Action - Pros and Cons, The Origins of, Legal Treatment
"What Are Common Arguments Against Pay Equity and How Can the Union Respond?" AFSCME. Web. 12 Mar. 2011. <http://www.afscme.org/publications/2417.cfm>.
Box, Kim. "Diversity Is Imperative to Keep California Businesses Competitive." Sacramento Bee 27 Feb. 2011. Print.
