Abstract

Despite the recent attention to labor force diversity, there are widespread misunderstandings about current labor force trends. These misunderstandings can have detrimental effects on business and marketing strategies and on personnel policies. This article describes recent trends in U.S. labor force composition and likely future changes. It focuses on nine widespread myths which deal with the extent to which the U.S. labor force--and the U.S. population--are becoming more diverse; with immigration as a source of labor force diversity; and with the connections between the economic situation of African Americans and immigration and diversity efforts. Finally, it notes that the real coming "shortage" will be in a steady supply of quality jobs.