The Future Workforce: Attracting Latino and Latina Employees

This National Hispanic Heritage Month is a chance to learn more about the contributions that Hispanic and Latino Americans have made to our country — and about the contributions they’re poised to make in the future.

Latinos are the fastest-growing subset of millennials, the demographic group that’s shaping our economy and will make a major impact on the workplace in the next decades. That’s one reason that many employers are making a concerted effort to attract them.

A 2016 Atlantic Media/Pearson Opportunity Poll has shown Latinos are more likely than other groups to value education, especially college. The same poll showed that Latinos are more likely than other ethnic groups to believe that education will help them land a better job. That may be one reason college enrollment among Latinos rose by 200 percent in the last ten years, according to research from Pew. Part of the group’s focus on training and education may stem from anxiety about the changing nature of the economy. The Atlantic survey showed that Latinos were the group most concerned about their skill levels, with 51 percent of participants seeing their skills possibly being obsolete in ten-years.

This data shows that offering training and education opportunities is one way to engage Latino employees. Employers are paying close attention to learn more strategies for attracting and retaining this large group of potential employees.

The group UnidosUS (formerly called the National Council of la Raza) released these five research-based recommendations to help employers attract and retain Latino millennials:

1. Create opportunities for growth and advancement
2. Recognize the value of the Latino perspective
3. Offer flexible work policies for a better work-life balance
4. Show the path to the employment pipeline through paid work experiences for high school and college students
5. Be sure to advertise and explain benefit packages and provide personal benefit counseling and enrollment assistance.

How is your workplace celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month? Do you have any program in place to recruit or welcome Latino and Latina employees?