Almost 60 million Latinos live in the United States, making up 18% of the population. It’s estimated according to the U.S. Department of Labor one in every three new employees by 2025 will be Latino or of Hispanic heritage.
Get Instant Access to This Article
Subscribe to Worcester Business Journal and get immediate access to all of our subscriber-only content and much more.
- Critical Central Massachusetts business news updated daily.
- Immediate access to all subscriber-only content on our website.
- Bi-weekly print or digital editions of our award-winning publication.
- Special bonus issues like the WBJ Book of Lists.
- Exclusive ticket prize draws for our in-person events.
Click here to purchase a paywall bypass link for this article.
Almost 60 million Latinos live in the United States, making up 18% of the population. It’s estimated according to the U.S. Department of Labor one in every three new employees by 2025 will be Latino or of Hispanic heritage.
All this comes with their own set of challenges in the workforce. Hispanics workers earn 74% of what the typical white workers earn; Hispanic women experience a much larger gap than white women, earning just 54 cents for every dollar earned by white men; and upward social and work mobility is three times more difficult than other demographic groups.
Even with these stats, employers in struggle to capture the Hispanic talent. Here are ways they can reverse that trend.
10) Mentorship. Being able to identify and mentor your Hispanic workforce will translate into better retention and opportunities.
9) Evaluate your senior management. Representation cultivates aspiration. When we don’t feel represented in the organization, we lose motivation.
8) Eliminate bias in the evaluation and promotion opportunities. As an organization, always promote equal pay for equal work and be conscious of decision making based on bias.
7) Invest in your team. Recruit and hire for retention and have strong plans to develop your team.
6) Acknowledged our power. Hispanics account for $2.3 trillion economic activity, according to a 2019 report by the Congress Joint Economic Committee. If the U.S. Latino GDP were its own country, it would rank as the eighth largest GDP in the world.
5) Recognize our value as a competent workforce. Even those with a college degree will have to work a third or half longer to make what a white man or woman earn in a year.
4) Help with hurdles to employment and financial security. Expand your outreach to high schools, colleges and universities to promote mentorship and paid work opportunities.
3) Build a strong and positive reputation within the Hispanic community. We do business with companies we trust, but more importantly we do business with companies representing our values and understanding our needs.
2) Deploy robust Spanish-language digital content. This will help you attract more business and will increase engagement.
1) Don’t worry about getting it right. It’s not just about getting it right on the first try, it's all about trying and interacting with your Hispanic employees to get solid feedback.
