The managerial implications of changing work force demographics: A scoping study

Abstract

The demographic changes currently underway in the United States have been widely anticipated and discussed by scholars and practitioners, but little is known about what impacts, if any, have already been experienced by employers. This article reports on a field study that asked managers in large US corporations to describe how and to what extent demographic changes have affected their businesses. Changing work force demographics were interpreted by managers as having two distinct components: a reduction in the growth rate and quality of potential employees, and increased gender, ethnic, and age diversity. While most firms reported managerial challenges from increased diversity, none characterized it as a serious business problem. A lack of sufficiently skilled workers for increasingly complex jobs, conversely, was seen as a major, ongoing problem.

Managing workforce diversity in the Australian manufacturing industry

“…The literature has indicated that the increase in the shortage of skilled labor, the increasing number of migrant employees, the increasing competitive environment, and the rapid rate of change puts an organization under pressure to adapt to these changes, through effective training programs and courses to empower its diverse workforce (Jackson et al, 1992;Loveman and Gabarro, 1991). In spite of the growing importance of training, the findings of this study indicated that training practices for diverse employees are not adequate (mean ϭ 4.22).…”

“…The main problems that affect culturally diverse employees are inequality of income and bonuses, job recognition, promotion, and assignment of responsibilities (Grace, 1994;Jackson et al, 1992). Researchers have indicated that a lack of, or differences in, career planning, and organizational discrimination may be responsible for the loss of promotional opportunities that would better prepare nontraditional managers for senior-level positions (Kogod, 1992;Loveman and Gabarro, 1991;Schreiber et al, 1993).…”

“…A number of studies in Australia and overseas have indicated that steps and criteria followed by organizations to select and test applicants are inadequate or inappropriate for a number of applicants including minorities (Loveman and Gabarro, 1991;Morrison, 1992;Rosen and Lovelace, 1991;Schreiber et al, 1993). For instance, blanket literacy and language testing in recruitment are increasingly used for language and literacy levels that bear no relationship to the specific job requirements.…”

Human Resource Diversity Management Practices and Organizational Citizenship Behavior: A Conceptual Model

“…According to Richard and Kirby (1999), human resource practices regarding career advancement must reflect diversity issues in order to overcome negative perceptions from diverse employees. Thus, such failure in providing a career development plan for diverse employees would negatively affect their motivation, morale, creativity, innovation and performance (Loveman & Gabarro, 1991;Morrison, 1992;Ragins & Scandura, 1994).…”

Health and productivity of older workers

“…Research in the United Kingdom indicates that, where older workers are being recruited into the labor force, it tends to be predominantly into part-time, low skill, low pay, low responsibility, and repetitive jobs (27). Lack of appropriate skills is often cited as being a major factor in discouraging the recruitment of older workers (14,28). Some researchers have pointed out that, although discrimination against older workers operates across all socioeconomic groups, its greatest impact is on lower skilled groups (24).…”