The last two years have been eye opening to the inequalities surrounding working people of color. At the beginning of the pandemic, minorities disproportionately lost jobs, and those who kept their jobs often experienced more exposure to COVID-19 because of work that couldn’t be performed remotely.
Recovery from unemployment has also been slower, with 7.9% of Black workers and 5.9% of Latino workers unemployed in October 2021, compared with 4% of white workers, according to Center on Budget and Policy Priorities calculations of Bureau of Labor of Statistics data.
These and other factors like inconsistent access to child care have motivated many people of color to take charge of their own careers by starting a business. Research from Robert Fairlie, a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, found that the number of African Americans operating businesses skyrocketed by 38% from February 2020 to September 2021; for Hispanic business owners, the increase was 15%. Fueled by more than simply an entrepreneurial spirit, people of color entering the business scene are joining at an exciting time.
Recent Comments