Center for Economic Inclusion - Indicators for an inclusive regional economy

Sense of Belonging

Employment discrimination

Why this matters

Though explicit racial discrimination in employment has been outlawed, Black, Indigenous, Hispanic, and Asian workers in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region continue to navigate exclusionary labor markets, due to the biases and exclusionary practices of employers. This discrimination harms our regional economy, preventing qualified jobseekers from contributing their ideas to benefit society. In an inclusive economy, no workers would experience discrimination due to their race or ethnicity.

What this means

In 2021, the vast majority of Minnesota's Black, Indigenous, and Hispanic communities indicated they believe their group experiences discrimination when applying for jobs. The same was also true for more than three-quarters of Minnesota's Hmong population. Meanwhile, 38% of the state's White adults believed their group faced racial discrimination when applying for jobs.

Community perspective

Quotes in this section come from residents of the Minneapolis-St. Paul region and are intended to offer context for understanding the Indicators. They were shared with the Center for Economic Inclusion in a series of community engagement sessions conducted over the course of this project.

"Entrepreneurship became my goal because I could not find a job I felt safe in and that recognized my talent. I knew that on the slim chance I got hired, they would try and fire me for reasons outside my control. The system has been set up so that people like me can’t get ahead.”

“My friend and coworker felt she was unfairly treated by my boss because she was working from home and had her toddler son that required more attention than she could give work at the time. She felt as though they did not sympathize with her when other white counterparts in the same situation were given the time and support they needed.”

Additional Research & Partners

Additional Research:

APM Research Lab’s Minnesota’s Diverse Communities Survey and Response Panel

Partners:

Minnesota Human Rights Commissions

What you can do

Employer Strategy:

Employers can take ongoing actions to remove bias from application processes, including through racially diverse interview committees, regular training in anti-racism, and blind resume reviews, which can increase and deepen potential candidate pools, contribute to faster hiring and better employee retention, and benefit from the talents and perspectives of workers of all races and ethnicities.
Employers can commit to hiring and supporting racially diverse leadership teams, which research shows can contribute to increased productivity and profitability.
Employers can listen to Black, Indigenous, Hispanic, and Asian employees and center their perspectives when addressing challenges related to exclusionary practices.

Local Policy:

City and county officials can support the efforts of local Human Rights Commissions to promote equity and inclusion in workplaces and hold discriminatory employers accountable.

State Policy:

State policymakers can increase funding to the Department of Human Rights to administer Workforce Certificates and Equal Pay Certificates to businesses more effectively and efficiently. This can ease the process of compliance for Minnesota businesses and promote more inclusive workplaces.