Workplace 2005

The third important work force trend is increasing diversity. To begin with, men won't participate in the labor force as much as they have, while women will participate more. The share of women in the labor force will rise to 47.4 percent in 2006, up from 46.2 percent in 1996, says Fullerton. Male workers' share will fall by more than a full percentage point, dropping from 53.8 percent to 52.6 percent.

The primary effect of a smaller percentage of male workers, workplace experts agree, is greater opportunity for women. A Challenger, Gray & Christmas survey of human resources professionals found that 23.8 percent foresaw the post-millennial shattering of the glass ceiling that keeps women and minorities from top spots on the corporate ladder. In general, the company predicts, jobs will no longer be separated into categories of "men's work" and "women's work."

Ethnic diversity is also increasing. The percentage of non-Latino white workers will shrink from more than 75 percent of the 1996 work force to less than 73 percent by 2006. Their place will be partly taken by a 41 percent increase in the smallest but fastest-growing contingent: American Indians, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

But the big news will be the changing places of the second- and third-largest ethnic categories: Latinos will register a net gain of nearly 4.6 million workers, while African Americans will grow by more than 2.1 million. "By 2006," says Fullerton, "there will be more Latinos than African Americans in the labor force."

This article was originally published in the November 1999 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Workplace 2005.