DiversityInc, “the dominant ‘diversity’ publication” announced the opening of their annual competition on Tuesday to pick the 50 “best” diverse corporations.
While diversity extends beyond race and includes gender, sexual preference, disabilities and veterans, the competition appears to be nothing more than a political correctness talent show.
2014’s winner, Novartis Pharmaceuticals prides itself with 40% of its workforce falling into “15 employee resources groups.”
The drug company also touts its performance and goal process that adds 20% weighting to matters of diversity.
To the company’s credit, Novartis stock has increased by 20% in the past year.
Other companies that fell into DiversityInc’s top 50 in 2014 were:
- Sodexo
- Kaiser Permanente
- Master Card
- Procter & Gamble
- General Mills
- Target
- IBM
- Coca Cola
- Walt Disney
- Time Warner
- Monsanto
The U.S. government has allowed affirmative action programs since 1961 when President Kennedy signed Executive Order 10925.
As with any government program, an industry has grown around race-based hiring and contracting that is now immense, and wrought with fraud.
The government’s 8(a) program within the Small Business Administration provides preferential contracts and bidding to minority-owned businesses. In 2011, one business alone, Alaska Native Corporation, was caught submitting fraudulent bills to the government totaling more than $20 million.
In addition to government programs that focus on diversity, this political correct movement has infected the private sector, which has now institutionalized diversity in nearly all of America’s large businesses.
This is largely due to legal requirements of companies with more than 100 employees to report the race and ethnic categories of their employees to the EEOC.
Modern companies that place pride in recruiting talent, regardless of race, ethnicity or religious or sexual preferences are recognized annually with awards . . . but most of those companies are not based in the United States.
While many would assume DiversityInc is a group led by Al Sharpton, it’s a company owned by Luke Visconti who publishes a column titled, “Ask the White Guy.”
As with the tactics of Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, many studies have questioned the benefit of affirmative action and the diversity industry. Has it lead to increased diversity or increased division?
