Business Principles

The nature of the population has been changing, too. Currently, more than 80 percent of Americans can be racially classified as Caucasian. Because of higher birth rates among nonwhite Hispanics and African-Americans, and recent immigration, their proportions in the population have been growing. This growing
diversity of the workforce increases the need for better cross-cultural communication and sensitivity to the interests and concerns of various groups.

Changes in the birth rate have caused shifts in the number of people in different age groups. For example, because of the high birth rate during 1945–1965, there are more people in the 42–62 age group. Because of this baby boom, the number of people aged 55 and over today has increased substantially. The lowbirth-rate period that followed the boomer period is called the baby bust period.


The baby bust period has created a shortage of young workers, called “busters.” This shortage will con-
tinue to create serious problems, especially when the boomers retire in large numbers.

Businesses must be prepared to offer the kinds of goods and services needed by people of different age
and racial groups. For instance, because of the increase of Spanish-speaking people, some newspapers
and magazines publish Spanish-language editions.

As people live longer, food companies continue to develop special foods and products for the elderly.