cruitment, promotional and employee retention programs. These retention programs can include everything from educational grants to multilevel training programs. Another valuable retention program can be the redesign of performance review processes.One thing is for sure, and that is that in order for it to work, diversity training must be able to incorporate ALL the demographic trends that are taking place in the country. In recent years, women have become a growing presence in the labor force. As Gary Powell point out, The proportion of women, which was 42 percent in 1980 and 45 percent in 1990, is expected to be 47 percent in the year 2000 (Powell, P.36).Elderly workers are another major demographic group that has begun to be included in the workforce due to diversity initiatives and sensitivity training programs. This presents a number of different challenges for businesses today. Older employees may prefer more time off instead of other benefits that the younger employees might prefer. There is stronger resentment against elderly people as compared to women and minorities however, because those individuals are generally expensive to keep. Most elderly people have high salaries along with good and expensive benefit packages, including pensions. This creates a situation where many large companies feel that it is better to downsize these employees and pay severance packages rather than allowing these employees to stay on and collect top dollar on their benefit packages. Others seem to think otherwise, The American Association of Retired Persons believes that an age-diverse workforce can benefit business organizations in the long run, and has embarked on research, education, and advocacy programs to promote age diversity. (Employment Relations Today, Winter 1997). Nonetheless, diversity initiative programs have put some pressure on corporations and especially large conglomerates, to include elderly employees into their hiring and...
