Keywords: economic downturn, hiring, recruiting, DiversityInc Top 50 Companies, Black, Latino, Asian, American Indian, AT&T, Verizon
You've been to countless job fairs and posted your résumé to numerous job boards but are still coming up empty. Don't get discouraged. Companies committed to diversity are continuing to hire--and they're looking for applicants like you.
At AT&T, No. 2 on The 2009 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity® list, new hires are 49 percent Black, Latino, Asian and American Indian, and these groups also account for 30 percent of the company's managers. To maintain its diverse employee base, the company never stops recruiting. The reason: to continue to be innovative, especially during challenging times.
"In an economic downturn, it is more important than ever to make sure corporations continue to focus on their greatest asset--their employees," says Cindy Brinkley, senior vice president of talent development and chief diversity officer at AT&T. "Turbulent times can actually present opportunities to step up our development efforts and to continue investing in what matters most--the innovators that will help drive the recovery. Once the downturn becomes an upturn, we'll be even better positioned and able to serve our customers."
At Cox Communications, No. 17 on The 2009 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list, there are more than 100 job postings on DiversityInc Careers. "Companies need to strategically determine what positions will continue to make them successful," says Monica Johnson, recruiting manager for Cox Communications in Atlanta. "Either they already own that talent internally or they have to seek talent to meet that need."
With Blacks accounting for 22.4 percent of new hires at Cox and Latinos making up 11.2 percent of its overall work force, the company is appealing to job seekers who hold diversity as a top priority. But with the influx of so many applicants, says Johnson, determining which ones are applying to advance their careers at Cox and which ones are just looking to bring home a paycheck--no matter what the job is--has become a challenge.
"When there are more candidates than there are positions, you have the added burden of ensuring [that] the talent is in fact truly interested in the role, the company, the opportunity," Johnson says.
To meet that demand, Johnson says Cox makes an effort to participate in targeted events and to post jobs to diversity-specific boards. This way, recruiters can best find candidates who have values that are closely aligned with Cox's values.
Another company that's continuing to recruit is Verizon Communications, No. 12 on The 2009 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list. The reason this telecommunications giant is focused on growing its work force, no matter which direction the stock market is headed, is to best reflect its customer base. Blacks, for example, account for 22.6 percent of Verizon's new hires, while Latinos account for 14.6 percent all new employees.
"We need new team members who can help us take our customer service and sales support to an entirely new level," says Alberto Canal, director of media relations at Verizon.
Just this week, Verizon announced plans to hire 90 service representatives in Virginia, and last month a search began for 60 reps in New Jersey.
Another company recruiting talent to closely mirror its customer base is Monsanto Co., No. 36 on The 2009 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list.
"At Monsanto, diversity is not a program or initiative--it's the way we do business," says Robert Crumpton, director of global diversity. "Our people are the link between the workplace and the marketplace, and we want a workplace that looks like our customers. That said, we can never stop attracting or growing a diverse work force."
Other 2009 DiversityInc Top 50 companies with hundreds of positions currently being offered in the DiversityInc Career Center include: AT&T (No. 2), PricewaterhouseCoopers (No. 5), Merck & Co. (No. 8), IBM Corp. (No. 10), Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. (No. 20), KPMG (No. 21) and Time Warner Cable (No. 38).
Click here to visit DiversityInc's career center.
