The recession and the apparent lack of jobs here in the U.S. has taken a major toll on minorities.  It seems as though after the economy hit hard times, and after jobs were outsourced to India, many corporations were left no choice but to layoff its employees. A lot of those employees were older men and women, at or below satisfactory performers, and African-Americans or other minorities. Despite President Obama’s plea for corporations to stop outsourcing and begin hiring local citizens again, the unemployment rate continues to increase.  So what is it? Why won’t corporations hire?

     One theory is that corporate big wigs have figured out that the same amount of work can be produced with less people. After the layoffs, persons still employed are left to pick up the slack and double up on their workload.  They are required to do more work without receiving an increase in pay (or promotion).  If this current system is working, why change it? I’m sure this is the mindset of most corporations at this time. But, what is being overlooked is that minorities are not given the opportunity to work again. This is evident, for instance, with the housing downfall. The number of foreclosures in minority communities has tripled in the last few years.  So, in order to combat this epidemic before it gets way out of hand, maybe minorities need to change their strategy when job searching.

     According to the Black EOE Journal, there are currently 1.5 million African-Americans over the age of 25 that have an advanced degree (Masters, PH. D, etc). So this proves that African-Americans are indeed qualified to do the job.  Therefore, job seekers should begin focusing in on those companies that are at the top of their league when it comes to diversity.  

      The Black EOE Journal conducted their annual review of Fortune 1000 companies and picked the following as having the best when it comes to diversity programs.  Check out the list:

Best of the Best Employers: Top 50 Diversity Employers

Abbott Laboratories

Accenture

American Express Company
Army and Air Force Exchange Service
AT&T, Inc.
Automatic Data Processing
Bank of America Corporation
Coca-Cola Company, The
Colgate-Palmolive Company
Cox Communications, Inc.
CSX Corporation
Cummins, Inc.
Dell Inc.
Deloitte & Touche L.L.P.
Diageo North America, Inc.
Eli Lilly and Company
Ernst & Young LLP
Freddie Mac
General Mills, Inc.
Health Care Service Corp.
International Business Machines Corporation (IBM)
J.C. Penney Corporation, Inc.
Johnson & Johnson
Kaiser Permanente
KPMG
Kraft Foods, Inc.
Lenovo
Liberty Tax Service
Marriott International, Inc.
MasterCard Incorporated
McDonald’s USA
Merck & Co., Inc.
MGM Resorts International
Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated.
Northrop Grumman Corporation
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation
PBSJ Corporation, The (an Atkins Company)
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Procter & Gamble Company, The
Prudential Financial, Inc.
SC Johnson & Co
Sodexo, Inc.
State Farm Insurance
Time Warner
Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
US Airways
Verizon Communications Inc.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
WellPoint, Inc.
Wells Fargo & Company

 

     Hopefully, this list can be a start to helping some people find employment. We are not guaranteeing that these companies will hire. But at least, these companies will give each applicant a fair shot during the application process.