Large companies like Citigroup, McDonald’s, Procter & Gamble and Home Depot are known for the diversity of their workforce and the partnerships they’ve formed with educational institutions. For example, Citigroup has a relationship with the Borough of Manhattan Community College to help their entry-level employees further their education.
Before the partnership, “there wasn’t anyplace for those workers with a high school education to move up the ladder,” said Antonio Perez, president of the college, one of the top in the country for graduating Hispanic students.
So many people at entry-level jobs—clerical, maintenance, customer service—are people of color who often are trapped because they don’t have the time or the money for community college. The program started with 20 employees, but now Citigroup sponsors 100 employees a year who enroll in Manhattan Community College, Perez said.
Perez practices what he preaches. College employees are given free courses on the weekends, such as basic computer operation skills. “If they learn how, they can teach it to their children,” he said. “I think companies have to replicate that. How can they invest in their employees to have an impact on them and on their families? Provide them with an opportunity for further education.”
Procter & Gamble and Upward Bound team up to provide minority students mentoring relationships, internships, college scholarships and summer jobs; when the students graduate, they’re offered a management position, Conejo said. “That’s what kids need. The discrepancy in education is so huge, that programs like this keep kids on track, accountable, busy and out of trouble,” he said. Only 9 percent of the nation’s 40 million Hispanics have college degrees, he said. Conejo sees educating Hispanics not as a social program but an investment in the future U.S. labor pool.
Companies can forge bonds with high schools and colleges by serving on advisory boards, building relationships with the faculty, providing mentors and offering employees tuition reimbursement.
Even small businesspeople, such as one owner of a McDonald’s franchise, can benefit from helping their staff with their education, Perez said. The owner pays for the books of employees who attend college. As a result, he has an experienced staff he can count on.
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