With mobility in the domestic and international workforce continuing to increase, regions across the United States face increasing competition to retain and attract the workers needed to fuel the maintenance and growth of their regional economies. Having a diverse workforce in which minority workers perceive that they can thrive is one key element in this competition for workers.
In this context, the Workforce Diversity Indicators Initiative was created in 2013. The Initiative comprises a group of Pittsburgh organizations intent on understanding and disseminating the facts surrounding Pittsburgh workforce diversity and on building a more diverse and inclusive regional workforce as an economic competitiveness and social equity imperative. The organizations included were convened by Vibrant Pittsburgh, following initial meetings of Pittsburgh Today’s regional economy committee. Initiative organizations include: Vibrant Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Today, the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board, Rand Corporation, the University of Pittsburgh’s University Center for Social & Urban Research and the University of Pittsburgh’s Center on Race and Social Problems.
What follows is the first of a continuing series of reports that will examine workforce diversity issues in the Pittsburgh region.