Black workers’ views and experiences in the U.S. labor force stand out in key ways
Black workers account for about 13% of all U.S. workers, including those who work full time, part time and are self-employed.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Black workers account for about 13% of all U.S. workers, including those who work full time, part time and are self-employed.
Workplace diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, or DEI, are increasingly becoming part of national political debates. For a majority of employed U.S. adults (56%), focusing on increasing DEI at work is a good thing. But relatively small shares of workers place a lot of importance on diversity at their workplace.
Here’s a closer look at what recent surveys have found about Americans’ views of affirmative action.
Most workers are highly satisfied with their relationship with their co-workers and manager, but relatively few feel the same about their pay or opportunities for promotion.
Roughly one-in-five Americans ages 65 and older were employed in 2023 – nearly double the share of those who were working 35 years ago.
The difference between the earnings of men and women has barely closed in the United States in the past two decades. This gap persists even as women today are more likely than men to have graduated from college, suggesting other factors are at play such as parenthood and other family needs.
In 2022, 19% of American workers were in jobs that are the most exposed to artificial intelligence, in which the most important activities may be either replaced or assisted by AI. Women, Asian, college-educated and higher-paid workers have more exposure to AI, but workers in the most exposed industries are more likely to say AI will help more than hurt them personally.
55% of U.S. workers say their manager or supervisor is excellent or very good to work for.
About half of upper-income workers (51%) say they take off less time than offered, compared with 45% of middle-income workers and 41% of lower-income workers.
The higher education pipeline suggests a long path is ahead for increasing diversity, especially in fields like computing and engineering.
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