Home Depot’s Technological Solution to Discrimination in the Workplace

Abstract

Discrimination is found everywhere in the world, including the workplace. I will be talking about how Home Depot changed the way we look at discrimination. With technology being a huge part of our lives, Home Depot has found a way to shift the focus from physical appearances to qualifications and skills.

Was Home Depot correct in stating that it was not discriminating, but simply filling positions consistent with those who applied for them? Given your reading of this chapter, was the firm guilty of discrimination? If so, under what theory?

Home Depot is one of America’s largest home-improvement stores, boasting more than 413,000 employees and earnings exceeding .

6 billion(Investor Relations). Being one of the largest retailers worldwide is not without challenges. In Home Depot’s case, it grapples significantly with workplace discrimination. Given the nature of work, it is easy for Home Depot to lean towards male-dominated roles within the company. Known for its do-it-yourself projects and labor-intensive work, Home Depot often prefers male employees. However, in today’s age, women are just as, if not more, qualified for these positions. As stated in the article, Home Depot is accused of placing women in operational roles and men in merchandising positions – despite women applying for the latter too. The suggestion is that they were overlooked based on their gender.

After reading this chapter and the case study on Home Depot, I believe that they were guilty of discrimination. The company predominantly hired men for their merchandising positions, disregarding the representation of minority groups. Home Depot was guilty of disparate treatment, which occurs when an individual or individuals in a similar situation are treated differently based on color, religion, sex, national origin, age, race or disability status (Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B. A., & Wright, P. M.). In this case, discrimination was based on sex and race as women were the minority, and they were mainly allocated to cashier positions.

Every day we encounter racism and sexism in the workplace. For example, last week, we saw how it played a role in the Citibank discussion. Women are not being promoted into management and other male-dominated roles – they are also paid less than men based on their gender. If all companies implemented change with the same vigor as Home Depot, the number of lawsuits and accusations would likely reduce substantially.

How does this case illustrate the application of new technology? Can you think of other ways in which technology might be used to address diversity/EEO/affirmative action issues?

After being accused of discrimination against women and various ethnicities, Home Depot introduced the Job Preference Program. This automated kiosk allows applicants to input all of their information, making it easier for management to find qualified applicants based on their skills and qualifications rather than sex, age, race, religion, etc. The Job Preference Program is also used by current employees to update their information for consideration for promotions. By using this technology, Home Depot has increased the number of women in merchandising positions and the percentage of ethnically diverse employees since the program’s implementation.

Technology has played a crucial role in job searching in recent years. So much so that most people find the best candidates through websites like LinkedIn and Indeed.com. Websites like these are revolutionizing the way companies profile candidates to find the perfect match. Similarly to the Job Preference Program, LinkedIn and Indeed.com are used by thousands of companies every day. They enable companies to focus on skills and qualifications rather than physical attributes.

Did you like this example?

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