Now Hispanic immigrants make up about 10 to 15 percent of his staff throughout Indiana, requiring translations. The most current estimates from the 1998 Census estimate about 800,000 Hispanics have left California alone for other states. States that are now seeing an influx of Hispanics and other minorities are Arkansas, Georgia and North Carolina. Other states expected to see an increase are Indiana, Delaware, Kansas, Maryland and Nebraska. BSCs near these new communities have the toughest time adjusting to their new work force because their cities and towns still may not fully accept new immigrants.
Some towns battle high levels of racial prejudice sparked by the new residents.
This hostility can make it difficult for contractors who hire immigrants to work in buildings where customers may have a bias. One BSC from Georgia reported in the reader survey that customers sometimes request all English-speaking workers or are overly suspicious of immigrants working alone in their buildings at night. His answer was to shift English-speaking crews to those building rather than affront the customers by trying explain that Hispanic workers were equally qualified. How to compensate Since sociologists expect immigrants will continue to make up the majority of service industry work forces for at least the next decade, contractors must take multiple steps to support their new staff, says Becky Gasho, director of community services for LaCasa of Goshen, a rural Indiana community outreach group that helps the area's burgeoning new Hispanic community assimilate into local society. BSCs should offer job applications in English and the most predominant languages of their applicants, as well as provide all guidelines, policies, procedures and safety rules in those languages, advises Goshen.