Filling quotas in corporate America in the 1980s


Attitudes about equal opportunity for everyone, regardless of race or gender, started to change in the 1970s, and by the 1980s most progressive companies were putting in active measures to encourage the hiring of minorities, including more women. And so the corporate world that I stepped into, in 1987, in Los Angeles, was a pretty diverse crowd. And nowadays it can be kinda confusing to people, because nobody really says the kind of things that I heard back then, which were, to put it bluntly, very cold-blooded.

I never saw any of the memos that went around to managers in those days, but they weren't subtle. They didn't say things like "create more diversity", they gave quotas, and specifics. People who didn't look like me got preferential treatment at a job interview, it was that simple. I knew people who were faking stuff on their resumes just to get an interview.

Since I didn't fill any quota, I was lucky to get the job I got. And aside from my talent and midwestern work ethic, it came down to timing, because the department had already filled its quotas, and could hire anyone, regardless of race or gender, when I applied. I told you that it was cold-blooded!

Once I realized that, I became someone who championed human rights, and dignity. I would politely ask people to take down signs that said, "The best man for the job is a woman!", and I grumbled to myself whenever I had to work on some collateral that was designed for exclusion. I took equality to heart, and even invited myself to baby showers, which men weren't invited to (until I found out that you have to buy a gift!).

Obviously quotas helped create more diversity in the corporate workforce, because corporations tend to be very slow to change, and overall I'm glad that it happened. But quotas followed people around, making coworkers suspicious if someone got the job based on merit, or if they were just filled a quota? That had to hurt, the same way that many people scoffed at me and said that I got the job just because I was a white guy.

I'm optimistic for the future, when the human race itself is so diverse that old photos from the 1980s will seem strange, and old customs even stranger. So please, don't ask me to cheer for your race, unless it's the human race, and then I'll cheer the loudest.

Image at the top of this post: Blue Cross of California in 1987, Woodland Hills, California. I'm the guy in the back, with the sports coat.
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