Benefits February 28, 2007

Executives Say Discrimination Springs from Upper Echelons

February 28, 2007 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Discrimination in the workplace is no less prevalent now than it was a decade ago - at least that was the assessment of more than half of executives who responded to a recent online survey.
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The survey by Ladders.com, a Web site devoted to those looking for jobs with salaries above $100,000, found that 81% of executives polled say they have witnessed discrimination within their companies and 77% said that discrimination that happened originated in the higher ranks.

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According to the survey, racial discrimination was the most frequent form witnessed in the workplace (42%), followed by gender discrimination (38%), age discrimination (31%) and discrimination based on sexual orientation (9%).

Other survey results include:

  • Less than 43% said their companies offer educational classes on discrimination; 35% said these classes were unfortunately necessary,” and 33% said they were useful;
  • 58% of those surveyed said that they have not taken any actions against discrimination in the workplace;
  • 56% say they were discriminated against in the interview process; and
  • 56% felt they had been the victim of workplace discrimination at some point in their careers.

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