Originally posted by eric
In my view, affirmative action is bad for all parties involved.
To answer a question that was posed above; no I do not believe there would be widespread discrimination. Would there be some, of course there would. Is there discrimination now, absolutely.
I think that public image is a much larger motivator to a large scale employer than AA. Large corps are very worried about their public persona, meanwhile small corps who don't have that worry are too small to be effected by AA anyway. Anyone who has ever worked with the OFCCP and legal firms to develop an acceptable policy know quite well the time and expense that is required. Many times the result being a policy that on the surface looks fair but in reality still allows for discrimination, much like the war on drugs. Now I am not saying that AA did not have it's place in the advancement on minorities, but it's time and come and gone.
Take my company, my HR department will hire the person most qualified for the job regardless of race, gender, etc., these directives came from me and the board of directors, and applications are are audited on a yearly basis to ensure our directives are followed.
We did not require an executive order or any government oversight to develop this policy, it was common sense and good business practices.
I think I can speak for myself and many other CEOs, when I say that our primary objective, and in fact legal responsibility, is to procure the highest profits for the company and it's shareholders. Not to mention our own shares and options. We care more about profit than the color or gender of our employees. The people who help us produce are the people who get the jobs, plain and simple !