As employers try to deal with inequality in the workplace, they should buck conventional wisdom when it comes to college degrees and be willing to train new hires for roles they may have never been considered for, Kenneth Frazier, CEO of Merck & Co., said last month at The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit. This approach could especially be helpful for Black Americans who often have not benefited from the educational system, he added.
“It’s really important for us to recognize that because people haven’t had an opportunity early in their lives, it doesn’t mean that they can’t make a real contribution to your company,” Frazier said. “We want to just recognize that, in some ways, this is a harder population, but, at the same time, if we’re committed to being the kind of country that we want to be, then this is something that business has to be willing to do.”