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To multi-national corporations with facilities around the world and across the nation, workforce diversity is not a fad. It’s a working concept that has become part of the fabric of company culture. There are several substantive reasons why workforce diversity is being embraced by the nation’s largest corporations.

• American business, in a booming economy, is more dependent than ever on identifying, attaining and retaining quality people. Shifting demographics requiere companies to be positioned to find talent wherever it is.
• Business is becoming more global and less local. Offshore business and globalization have made cultural diversity an asset.
• Rising business and consumer awareness of workforce diversity can be a sales and customer relations asset. Conversely, the lack of diversity may negatively impact a company in the eyes of consumers.

Despite the much publicized rollbacks in affirmative action programs, the influx of diversity candidates into the marketplace is driving the wheels of change. With a decreasing number of white male candidates in certain areas, and an increase in women and people of color in advanced education and professional positions, employers are being forced by the market to embrace diversity. Those that successfully make this transition will be those that will prosper in this new century and beyond.

A culturally diverse workforce provides an enriched environment for the development of new ideas, fresh perspectives and innovative methodologies– factors which translate to success in the marketplace.