New Bedford, MA believes that their community will succeed when immigrants have more opportunities in the workplace. Local business and civic leaders have launched an initiative called English Works Campaign that helps to eliminate the long waiting lists for English classes.
Anthony R. Sapienza, president of Abboud, a New Bedford manufacturer of men’s clothing, believes proficiency in English helps businesses and opens up more job opportunities to the workers.
Business leaders like Sapienza have seen the effects of workers learning English on the job. Workers can better understand their duties and communicate with management, creating a more productive workforce and local economy.
Sapienza says English skills increase efficiency, reduce errors, and improve employee retention. Immigrants can also feel more integrated into their new communities, and can better help their children who are growing up in English-speaking schools.
Manufacturing emphasizes these days an approach known as “lean manufacturing,” which involves teamwork. This type of collaboration is not possible with “15 different people speaking 15 different languages,” Sapienza said.
Beyond that, there are jobs requiring customer service or computer skills, where it helps to speak English, he said.
Learn more about what New Bedford is doing to improve its community and workplaces here.
Every penny counts in this down economy, and every person does, too—the 2010 U.S. census will determine where money is allocated (from a pot of $400 billion in federal aid) based on community population counts. Undocumented immigrants and other hard-to-reach populations in the Chicago area and elsewhere have become the target of some creative census awareness outreach measures.
Telemundo, for example, has written in a main character on the Spanish-language soap “Mas sabe el diablo” (”The Devil Knows Best”) who’s a census worker.
Federal authorities have stepped up arrests of illegal immigrants, leading to worries that those residents will remain underground rather than report their presence to a federal census worker. Hence, the soap plot line, in which an unwed mother takes a census job and in the process educates her family — and immigrant viewers — about the government count.
“We’re going wherever the viewers are, even though you’re combining something that’s a little different with the steamy telenovela,” network spokeswoman Michelle Alban said.
Cook County, IL has already seen the hit from undercounting in the 2000 census: a consulting firm estimated that the county will have lost $200 million by the end of this decade. Researchers estimate that the states will lose about $12,000 in federal funds per uncounted person over the next decade.
Local community groups and churches are brainstorming about to reach out to underrepresented groups. At Rogers Park Community Council, members suggested census awareness T-shirts, street murals and multilingual mailers.
“This is not a joke,” Elizabeth Vitell, the council’s executive director, told fellow participants. “This is a chance to do something where we will see results in our communities for years to come.”
Read the full article in the Chicago Tribune here.
Even though ELL (English Language Learners) students make up the fastest growing student population in the U.S., teacher-prep courses are not readying teachers for this reality.
The population has grown astoundingly: between 1996 and 2006, the overall U.S. student population has only increased by 3%, whereas the ELL student population has grown 60%. The students come from diverse language and cultural backgrounds, and are foreign and native born.
A Government Accountability Office study on teacher preparation reports that “English language learners…speak more than 400 languages, with almost 80 percent of these students speaking Spanish… These students also include refugees with little formal schooling and students who are literate in their native languages, resulting in a range of educational needs.”
Mary Ann Zehr of Education Week points out that most teacher prep courses focus on students with disabilities and provide field experiences with disabled students, while ELL instruction is not regularly provided. She writes:
Interestingly, administrators of teacher-prep programs told the GAO that one of the main reasons they don’t have stiffer requirements for teachers to be trained to work with ELLs is that their state standards don’t require it of them.
The GAO notes that state standards sometimes include limitations on the maximum number of program or credit hours, so I can see how it could be a challenge for teacher-prep programs to add a requirement that everyone take a course devoted to teaching ELLs.
But I wonder if blaming the lack of standards is really just an excuse on the part of the teacher-prep programs for not keeping up with how school demographics are changing in the United States.
As we’ve seen in the news so much lately, the Hispanic community contributes to a large and growing portion of the online commerce. Hispanics now make up 11% of the U.S. online market.
This leads to many questions that a Practical eCommerce article addresses in easy-to-understand terms. For example, the first question you might ask is Do I need to market to the Hispanic community? If your business is specific to one area or does not fit the wants and needs of the Hispanic community “(i.e., The All Things Irish Boutique),” the answer is probably no.
But if you belong to the vast majority of U.S. retailers, it’s time to take a look at your marketing strategy from a new perspective.
Next, How do I revise my marketing strategy to involve the Hispanic community?
To make the most of your marketing, try to understand how Hispanic consumers use, think about, and understand your products, brand, and offers. Determine what should be said to address this community and start to say it in the language your site already uses, i.e., English.
Once you’ve got a new marketing foundation for the Hispanic demographic, it’s time to communicate your message in Spanish.
As an example, Best Buy famously reported last year that visitors to its Spanish language pages spent twice as much time on page as visitors to English language pages, presumably because the U.S. Spanish-speaking community was starved for product information.
When it comes to translating your site into Spanish, do not use a machine translation service alone. Instead, invest in a professional translator who can demonstrate fluency in both languages.
For past generations of Hispanics in the United States, becoming part of a corporate entity was sometimes viewed as “selling out.” But for second and third generations, that attitude is changing.
Many Hispanics came to the United States to take advantage of college education, and young Hispanic professionals these days are beginning to reap the benefits. Not only are they climbing the corporate ladder at higher rates than in the past, many are becoming business owners in sectors where Hispanics were previously underrepresented—technology, engineering, finance and law.
Roberto Cornelio, 51, director of the chamber’s Hispanic Entrepreneurship Center, says it’s not just mom-and-pop businesses, either.
“Traditionally, the Hispanic business community focused on providing goods and services to the Hispanic community,” Mr. Cornelio says. “That’s changing. It’s still an important part of our community, but people have been exposed to many other opportunities. We’re seeing people go into technology, and a number of Hispanics have opened professional services business.”
Between 2003-2008, Hispanics in management, business and financial operations rose from 5.9% to 7.5%
In the same period, Hispanics in chief executive positions rose from 3.3% to 4.8%
The Illinois Chamber of Commerce has grown 1,000% in the last several years
6,787 Hispanics earned MBAs in 2007, making up 4.6% of the degree-holders
And still, there’s a long way to go:
Hispanics comprise about 15% of the state of Illinois’s population, but only 4% of Illinois businesses are Hispanic-owned (the number is growing, however)
Hispanics hold 234 seats on Fortune 1,000 corporate boards, only 2.3% of all seats
There are just six Hispanic CEOs represented in the Fortune 500
71% of Fortune 500 companies have no Hispanics on their boards
Many Hispanic business leaders quoted in the article believe that Hispanics will continue to push for more recognition in the business world. Says Leopoldo Lastre, president of the Hispanic Lawyers Assn. of Illinois, “We will see more gains as long as there are opportunities. We’re not looking for the bar to be lowered.”
With immigration reform on the horizon and a potential mandate that all immigrants speak English, a new dilemma arises: where can people learn English? ESL classes aren’t always available due to long waiting lists and state budget cuts.
Moreover, it’s been reported that only 39% of ESL students reach a proficiency that can advance them to the next level. Why? Because with work and family responsibilities, students rarely have the time to devote to a full course load.
The solution, Marisa Trevino proposes in a USA Today editorial, is teaching immigrants English at work, embracing a shared responsibility between employer and employees. Not only could the employer get a future tax break, they are training their employees in an essential skill necessary to perform their job. Case in point:
TV station WFAA found that hundreds of low-level commercial aircraft mechanics in Texas had the necessary skill set for the job, but they lacked the language skills to communicate with supervisors or to read repair manuals. The report prompted Congress to demand that by March, the Federal Aviation Administration require all mechanics to be proficient in English.
McDonald’s is also following suit. They’ve created a 22-week ESL program for entry level management workers. The classes combine onsite and virtual language learning. Trevino concludes:
McDonald’s has learned what many ESL programs already have confirmed: The will to learn English is there. Smart companies will follow suit. It’s a win-win-win situation for employer, employee — and country.
2007 saw 937 Hispanic worker deaths compared to 533 in 1992 (a 76% increase); nationwide, total fatalities have dropped in that time period (USA Today reports.) Texas alone reported 50 Hispanic workplace deaths last year.
While an increase of Hispanics in the general workforce has increased as well, it’s clear that there are other reasons causing the discrepancy. First, there’s the language barrier—workers who aren’t able to communicate important information to their supervisors, and vice versa, can miss important instructions that lead to accidents. Then, illegal workers are often exploited—not given proper safety tools for example, or are overworked.
Some more reasons cited:
Workers without legal documentation to be in the U.S. are less inclined to join a union, which helps protect workers, or protest when conditions seem dangerous, said Raj Nayak of the California-based National Employment Law Project. “They’re doing the most dangerous work for longer hours,” Nayak said.
An article by Arizonian Jack Dunning explains why Hispanics have been less affected by the recession than other non-Hispanic Americans. Using recent studies by Univision and the Pew Hispanics, he points to some results:
Just 45 percent of Hispanics carry credit cards compared to 71 percent for non-Hispanics. And even a lesser amount take out loans, only 34 percent versus 53 percent for non-Hispanics. They shop more frequently than non-Hispanics, take more brand prescriptions, and pay more attention to advertising.
With less credit cards and loans comes less debt. And because Hispanics are more likely to rent homes than to own (44% vs. 23%), they have been less affected by foreclosures.
All of these reasons might be why Hispanics are more optimistic about the state of the economy than non-Hispanics, and a reason why Hispanics are more willing to spend. Buying power for Hispanics is increasing at twice the rate of non-Hispanics, and it’s impossible for companies and advertisers not to take notice. Simply translating marketing materials (Hispanics are 38% more likely to buy from an advertiser than non-Hispanics [Index 131 to 95], according to Univision) will bring your business one step closer to accessing a powerful sector of the U.S. economy.
Some ex-employee whistle-blowers say that Bank of America ordered them to use their Spanish language skills to push immigrants into bank services they couldn’t afford.
“We were coached every day to push multiple checking accounts, credit cards and debit cards even when the customer didn’t understand how to use them,” said [former bank teller Gabby] Ornelas, who lives in Landover Hills, Md., a town with a large immigrant population and a per-capita income of less than $19,000.
The Service Employees International Union, who is trying to organize BOA, is backing Ornelas and eight of her colleagues as they address what they believe is unethical exploitation of Latino immigrants. They say that BOA’s business model encourages working-class customers to sign up for lines of credit with high interest rates and cash advance services, all meant to maximize charges and overdraft fees.
BOA, on the other hand, believes the union is misinterpreting the relationship they have with their customers. A rep said that the services are legal and useful to customers:
“We believe a checking account is the cornerstone to establishing financial security in this country,” [BOA spokesperson Anne] Pace said in an e-mail. “We offer innovative financial services to meet the needs of all of our customers, including Hispanic customers.”
An article by eMarketer presents new data about the U.S. Hispanic population that’s online, reiterating the message of our blog post of June 18. They estimate 23 million Hispanic internet users this year—50% of the U.S. Hispanic population.
Like other consumers, Hispanics make most purchases at offline retail outlets. “But no online retailer should ignore Hispanic shoppers,” says eMarketer.
By 2013, Hispanic “buying power”—defined by the Selig Center for Economic Growth as disposable personal income—is expected to pass the trillion-dollar mark and hit $1.39 trillion.
These are numbers that are impossible for U.S. companies to ignore. Companies need to think differently about how they market their products and services, and understand the Hispanic consumer. eMarketer suggests, for example, that marketers execute campaigns in both Spanish and English, since most U.S. Hispanics are bilingual.
For past generations of Hispanics in the United States, becoming part of a corporate entity was sometimes viewed as “selling out.” But for second and third generations, that attitude is changing.
An article by eMarketer presents new data about the U.S. Hispanic population that’s online, reiterating the message of