Diversity is beauty, METRO edition
The Chronicle's Rad Sallee reports that diversity is somewhat lacking at METRO, but that President and CEO Frank Wilson is working on the problem:
In 2005, the most recent estimate available, Hispanics made up 30 percent of the area population, but they still are just 16 percent of Metro's work force.
In 2003, the Houston Chronicle reported the Hispanic work force at Metro, then 14.6 percent, had risen by less than 1 percentage point in the previous decade.
In the three years since President and CEO Frank Wilson was hired, it has risen by 1.2 points, and more Hispanics have penetrated the upper job levels.
The hiring gap is notably larger in Metro's work force than in those of the city of Houston (21 percent Hispanic), Harris County (20 percent) or the Houston Independent School District (22 percent.)
[snip]
[Janie Palomo] Reyes and others said they do not think hostility or discrimination against Hispanics is a problem at Metro. The work force is 60 percent black; that rises to 80 percent among the ranks of bus and light rail operators.
[snip]
"We have an obligation, not only to get the best talent we can find, but to make sure it reflects a good, diverse mix of people," he said. "That's what we're held accountable for when we contract with our vendors and suppliers, and that's what we hold ourselves accountable to."
Metro's new human resources director, Helen Cavazos, said the agency's priority is to increase the number of Hispanics in its work force. The question is how.
"We had 250 spots open for operators (drivers)," Wilson said. "I told HR and operations that they could not hire anybody but women and Hispanics until we righted the imbalance, or at least we had to make a good-faith effort to do so.
"We advertised in the newspaper and on the radio. We went to every job fair. We created job fairs. We went on Spanish-speaking television. Finally, they came back to me and said, 'Frank, we just can't get it done.' "
It took a few seconds to absorb President Wilson's hiring edict. Once we moved on, we decided that "We just can't get it done" seems like an appropriate motto for the regional transit organization.
BLOGVERSATION: Lose an Eye, It's a Sport, The County Seat.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/16/07 09:25 PM | Houston Transit | Print | Comments (5)
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