Workforce Diversity Project

In November 2014, Partners in Diversity® commissioned its first baseline report through the Portland State University Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies. The report established benchmarks against which regional progress could be measured and focused on the Portland area’s manufacturing, health care, and skilled trades sectors. Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the American Community Survey, researchers identified the number and types of jobs that exist in the Portland area, as well as who fills them and salaries. They also looked at the job market forecast in these sectors.

In August 2015, Partners in Diversity® commissioned its second baseline report through the Portland State University Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies. The report is an addendum to the first baseline report, Demographic Analysis of the Healthcare, Manufacturing, and Skilled Trades Industries, focusing only on female workers. The report explores whether female workers are gaining the same economic advantages as their male counterparts in the Portland area’s manufacturing, health care and skilled trades sectors.

In March 2016, the Workforce Diversity Project finished conducting surveys and interviews to better understand how job seekers, including English Language Learners (ELL), look for work and how employers recruit for open positions.

Job seekers

To gain the broadest understanding possible, researchers worked with community representatives to conduct a survey in nine languages, including Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Persian, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, and Vietnamese. In total, 547 paper and online surveys were returned.

Researchers also interviewed 165 individuals from 10 communities of color, including individuals of African, African American, Bhutanese, Chinese, Latino-Mexican, Middle Eastern, Native American, Pacific Islander, Slavic, and Vietnamese descent. Researchers learned that among non-ELL participants, the top five challenges in finding living-wage jobs were:

ELL participants reported the top five challenges in finding living-wage jobs were:

Employers

Researchers also connected with 18 employers within the three business sectors, unions, and staffing agencies. They asked how recruiters find candidates from communities of color and what, if any, changes they implemented to attract individuals from the region’s increasingly diverse workforce. Many organizations focused on hiring a more diverse workforce, but did not know the best ways to recruit in these communities. With limited resources, many used traditional methods to recruit, such as posting ads in ethnic newspapers or sending job openings to community advocacy organizations that do not focus on workforce development. These efforts did not always capture the attention of diverse community members who were eligible.

On April 28, 2016, Partners in Diversity® gathered community members, educators, unions, and business leaders to develop recommendations on how to address the challenges identified through baseline research. Participants developed solutions to help connect employers in the skilled trades, manufacturing, and healthcare sectors to professionals of color and English Language Learners. The solutions generated were used to shape the third phase of the project—action.

On October 26, 2016, Partners in Diversity® hosted a small gathering of community representatives and experts to discuss the challenge of immigrant and refugee re-credentialing. The gathering took place at Portland Community College SE and was hosted in partnership with the Oregon Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs (OCAPIA) and Senator Michael Dembrow. Experts and leaders in the immigrant and refugee communities were also invited to identify the barriers being experienced in specific job sectors and provide specific insights on:

• Oregon’s 55,000 highly skilled immigrants who have at least a bachelor’s degree, 15,000 of whom currently work in low-wage or low-skilled jobs, or are unemployed
• The types of jobs these individuals held before immigrating to the U.S.
• Potential partners that could help develop solutions, including potential legislative approaches for upcoming sessions
• Existing programs from other countries and states that could be adopted to meet the needs of communities in this region

In June 2017, Partners in Diversity® released its final Workforce Diversity Project report, entitled Building Workforce Diversity: The Portland Region’s Workforce of Tomorrow. The report reveals unique insight on how Portland metro area employers can more successfully diversify their workforce and gain a competitive advantage with the multicultural talent that exists in the region.

View the full report here.

On June 22, Partners in Diversity® hosted a community meeting to share findings from its final report, Building Workforce Diversity: The Portland Region’s Workforce of Tomorrow. Attendees also brainstormed ideas on how to best disseminate the findings to communities of color, English Language Learners, and employers.