Is workforce diversity an issue?

I read an interesting article in the Houston Chronicle about the difficulty the local transit agency has had in recruiting Hispanic employees. The agency's efforts to bring more Hispanics into its ranks included advertising in the newspaper and on the radio, as well as Spanish-language TV. It also attended job fairs and held its own job fairs. To no avail. In trying to fill 250 spots for bus drivers, it hired 10 Hispanics.

The transit system in Houston is trying to get its workforce to be a better reflection of the community it serves. That's why it's making such a strong pitch to Hispanics. They make up about 30 percent of the population in the Houston area but just 16 percent of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA). The benefits of hiring more Hispanics go beyond increasing the diversity of the MTA workforce. Many of these Hispanics speak Spanish, which is an obvious advantage when dealing with Spanish-speaking-only customers.

I found the article interesting because it addresses an issue that doesn't seem to have much traction in the school bus industry. I rarely hear about school districts or contractors targeting a particular group of people for hire. Is that because school transportation employees generally reflect the communities they serve in regard to ethnicity? Or is it because it doesn't matter as much as it does to public transit employers?

So here's my question: Should the school bus industry be paying closer attention to the diversity of its workforce? Let me know what you think.

Until next time.

Steve