Just a week after the Supreme Court’s decision to ban affirmative action in college admissions, Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas urged Target Corp. to end efforts to racially diversify its workforce and vendor network. He called the US-based company’s programs “discriminatory” and threatened “significant and potentially costly litigation” if Target fails to change its ways. The step from college admission to corporate employment is not a big one. As Noah Feldman has written, the conservative justices of the High Court have made it clear that using race as a factor in decision-making is not a practice they will ignore. No matter which side you’re on on this issue, you can’t dispute that retail relies on workers of color, and efforts by lawmakers to end practices meant to attract those workers can cost stores as employees. will make one even more desperate to find one, while further limiting one. Some of the career paths available to people of color. Non-Caucasians make up a disproportionate number of retail workers compared to the size of the US population. African-Americans alone made up more than 12% of the industry’s workforce in 2018, compared to 11% of the total population, according to a census report, while Latinos make up about 19% of retail workers but about 18% of the population. Is.
Occupational segregation in America begins long before anyone applies for a job. But much of the racial divide between professional and service industries stems from lower rates of advanced degrees in communities of color, which limits job prospects. Retail is one of the few fields where people without higher education can earn a steady salary and receive health benefits. Cutting diversity programs and further reducing the thin representation of people of color in the upper echelons of management will make retail work even more challenging.
Like many companies including Walmart and Amazon.com, Target announced ambitious goals to diversify its corporate and management teams in 2020 in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by police. Target promised at that time to increase its representation of African-American team members. 20% over the next three years through better placement, mentoring and retention plans. But its most recent 2021 figures show it’s slowing down, growing only 15% to 16%.
Diversity throughout the corporate hierarchy is critical to worker retention and career advancement. A 2011 study published in the Journal of Human Resources found that retail employees managed by someone of the same race are less likely to quit or be fired. And when your manager may not be able to identify with your race-related issues or understand the specific challenges you face in getting ahead, it’s much harder to stay employed as a person of color.
Given the risks that come with working in retail, any effort to retain workers may be beneficial. Recall the early days of public mask policies that put retail workers on the front lines of enforcement public health precautions and in direct contact with masked anti-people, which sometimes led to attacks on employees who were simply enforcing corporate rules. Beyond the challenges of working in retail during the pandemic, employees often have to work on their feet for long hours or lift heavy items that put them at risk of injury. In fact, retail industry Injuries or illness are projected to increase by 18% between 2020 and 2021, the biggest jump of any sector tracked by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Given that the average retail worker earns about $16.70 an hour and a cashier about $13.81, the salary and basic health benefits often don’t outweigh the physical costs. Retail workers of color are likely to leave if they do not see an opportunity for career advancement. This poses a problem for retailers at a time when companies need workers who can perform in an increasingly technology-dependent industry. Workers are already leaving the industry in large numbers and their jobs are being taken over by robots. For Target and other retailers, automating tasks such as self-checkout helps save labor costs and compensate for workers who have left. But even so, corporate executives from Walmart to Home Depot say automation can only accomplish so much in retail and can’t replace people-centered customer service.
It is not the responsibility of any one company to fix systematic discrimination against people of color in the workforce. But conservatives have focused their anger on Target for its progressive policies, even as dozens of other companies have made similar diversity commitments. Target fumed in its response to the backlash against its Pride collection last month. It can right those wrongs by defending its diversity agenda. Let’s hope other retailers come forward and defend their competitor for the good of the industry.
Leticia Miranda is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the consumer goods and retail industries.
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UPDATE: July 14, 2023, 12:28 AM IST