Discuss the changing workforce (demographics) in American Businesses Essay

Discuss the changing workforce (demographics) in American Businesses - Essay Example As the US workforce is becoming increasingly diverse in race, gender, age, culture, family structures, religion, and educational backgrounds, the US business sector is trying its best to manage some transformations that regard their human capital. Although nearly three-fourths of the U.S. population is still classified as white, that’s changing fast. By 2050 whites will represent only 53 percent of the U.S. population. Hispanics will make up about 24 percent, African Americans 14 percent, Asian Americans 8 percent, and Native Americans 1 percent. Managing this changing mixture of ages, faces, values, and views poses a gargantuan challenge. A diverse workforce brings with it a wide range of skills, traditions, backgrounds, experiences, outlooks, and attitudes toward work that can affect individuals’ job performance. Moreover, a diverse workforce brings language and communication challenges (Bovee, Thill & Schatzman, 2003). 1. Influx of Immigrants – Immigrant, whether legal or illegal, now make up about 13 percent of the nation’s workers, the highest percentage since the 1930s. They dominate job categories at both ends of the economic spectrum. Many work in jobs that native-born Americans prefer not to do—such as meatpackers, hotel maids, hamburger flippers, waiters, gardeners, seamstresses, and construction workers. Others fill the U.S. demand for nurses, doctors, scientists, and teachers. The influx of immigrants to the United States is expected to continue and will help hold down wages in unskilled jobs in addition to providing companies with the numbers of employees they need to expand. 2. Aging Population – The population in the United States is aging, a situation that creates new challenges and concerns for employers and employees alike. About 84 percent of baby boomers participate in today’s labor market. Experts predict that because of inadequate pensions, high medical costs, and a general desire to