Louisiana small businesses have done a good job of hiring diverse lower-level employees, but they still lack minorities in many leadership and upper management positions, according to a poll released this morning.
The poll was conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research on behalf of Small Business Majority. It found that at least 75% of Louisiana small businesses employ at least one woman as an entry-level employee, 47% employ one African-American, 15% have one Hispanic employee and 12% have one employee with a disability.
The numbers are much lower for upper management positions. Of the small businesses surveyed, 40% of the management staff are women, 16% are African-American, 5% are Hispanic and 4% have a disability.
“Small businesses make up 97 percent of businesses in Louisiana and employ more than half of the state’s private sector workers,” says John Arensmeyer, founder & CEO of Small Business Majority, a small business advocacy group founded in 2005. “Louisiana small businesses can benefit from hiring more minorities and women, especially at the management level, because having a diverse set of employees can bring together new ideas, foster creativity and spur innovation.”
Of the small business owners polled, 38% say they will make it a priority to hire or promote more diverse candidates for management positions.
One important item to note is that many small businesses do not have management positions besides the owner, and 87% of the Louisiana small businesses surveyed have less than 10 employees.
Across the country, 70% of the small businesses surveyed have one woman employed, 24% have one Hispanic employee, 16% have one African-American employee and 8% have one employee with a disability. At the management level, 35% of small businesses surveyed have at least one woman managing, 9% have an African-American manager, 8% have a Hispanic manager and 6% have a manager with a disability.
Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research surveyed 500 small business owners from around the country, including 106 from Louisiana, between Jan. 15 and Feb. 3.
Full poll results for the country and Louisiana can be found here.
