I happen to work in a place that pushes diversity and I am sure they utilize all the tax breaks that they get every time they hire a non-whites. Over the years I have made several observations about this practice. The first is that they hire unqualified persons to do the work just so they can get their quota. This hurts the overall productivity of everyone and begins to devalue the worth of the labor itself. The result is slightly depressed wages since they view the labor as cheap labor. My second observation is that the people doing the hiring are pretty f'n racist themselves which means that nonwhites may be able to get into entry level positions but they can't seem to advance beyond that. In fact, the entire upper staff is mostly white. I guess minorities are only good at back breaking labor. My third observation is that it does nothing to correct the already existing prejudice attitudes in place since jobs handed to these people are seen as hand me out jobs as in "isn't it nice whity is giving you a job? Now be thankful!". You may wonder who I work for. I work for the Democratic Party. Thank you!
I think you're mixing up a couple of related issues. You can not discriminate based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, citizenship status, or disability. You must give "equal employment opportunity" to all individuals applying for a job. That does not mean you have to hire unqualified employees.
All employers do not have to be affirmative action employers. For federal contractors and subcontractors, affirmative action must be taken by covered employers to recruit and advance
qualified minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and covered veterans. Affirmative actions include training programs, outreach efforts, and other positive steps.
An affirmative action employer must create an affirmative action plan. This plan can cover hiring, promotions, employee training, general rules concerning treatment of protected groups in the work place, and diversity programs in the community. From the employers perspective, it helps prevent huge discrimination legal settlements and lays down a set of rules to be followed in regard to discrimination.
The EEOC issues guidelines to employers to help create Affirmative Action Plans, but it is the employer who decides whether he wants a modest or aggressive plan.
If the affirmative action goal is modest, employers anticipate meeting the goal by dipping into the surplus of qualified minorities, which in turn raises the probability of a qualified minority being hired, thereby increasing the incentive for minority workers to become qualified and further narrowing the skill gap.
If, the affirmative action goal is highly ambitious, then employers will perceive a shortage of qualified minorities relative to the numbers needed to be in compliance with their regulations, and so they will be inclined to hire some who are unqualified, thereby lowering the minority incentives to invest in skills. In addition, it will create employee relations problems with existing better qualified employers. Thus the plans need to be carefully constructed so the employer is not being forced by his own regualtions to hire unqualified employees.
Although affirmative action requirements for government contractors was originated by government, almost all medium to large employers have created such plans to avoid costly discrimination lawsuits, labor union disputes, and employee grievances. You can change the law but the only way to do away with affirmative action in businesses is to do away with the civil rights laws and that's pretty unlikely.
