Diversity & Inclusion

Leadership Council

Defining Workforce Diversity in Latin America

QUICK ANSWER

Quick Answer

What does workforce diversity mean in Latin American countries?

■ Most organizations in Latin America have a compliance-based approach to diversity and inclusion (D&I).

■ Gender, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation and disability status are protected classes in most Latin
American countries.

More Detail

Figure 1: D&I Across Latin America

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Overview
D&I in Latin America is largely rooted in labor regulations for protected classes, including gender, age, disability
status, sexual orientation, color, race and ethnicity, social status and religion. These laws typically have one primary
goal: to prevent discriminatory hiring practices and attitudes toward historically underrepresented groups in the
workplace.

One of the most common government-driven strategies to promote diverse and inclusive workplaces in Latin
America is the use of affirmative action policies that encourage organizations to consider and hire individuals from
underrepresented groups. Organizations operating in these regions must be sensitive to country-specific policies
related to D&I, as violating these laws can sometimes have harsh penalties, including imprisonment.

Organizations should also factor regional regulations, such as anti-discrimination laws and affirmative action
policies, into their local D&I plans.

A Regulatory Approach to Diversity and Inclusion

Government regulations throughout Latin America significantly influence organizational approaches to race and
ethnicity, gender, disability and LGBTQ diversity.

Race and Ethnicity

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Race and ethnicity are common targets for country-level affirmative action efforts. These policies largely focus on
improving the education and upward mobility of minority populations. For instance, 56% of Brazilians identify as
black, yet only 6.3% of management positions belong to this population.[1]

To encourage the representation of racially and ethnically diverse Brazilians, the government has initiated
affirmative action programs, which include national financial aid for education, increasing access to primary and
secondary school education and introducing quotas for university admissions and workplace representation.[2] In
fact, ombudspersons (or public advocates) with a primary focus on improving problems of racism operate in most
countries in Latin America, excluding only El Salvador, Chile and Paraguay.[3]

Gender

Gender representation is also subject to government-mandated initiatives, including gender quotas even for
government seats. Women represent a larger part of the Latin American workforce compared to the global
workforce (see Figure 2), yet in Latin America just 16% of executives are women.[5] Though almost 70 million
women in the region have joined the labor force in recent decades and are increasingly attaining higher levels of
education than men, women are still more likely to be unpaid family laborers or broadly in the informal sector.
[5,6,7]

Also, women in the formal workforce throughout Latin America continue to face pay inequalities. Many countries
have explicit laws against gender-based pay inequality (including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico),
yet there is still a 29.8% gender pay gap.[8] Organizations operating in this region and working toward better
gender representation will need to be mindful of, and mitigate, potential gender-based pay gaps.

Figure 2: 2018 Female Representation in the Workforce

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Persons with Disabilities

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Disability-related diversity in Latin America is also heavily regulated by quotas and anti-discrimination laws. Brazil,
for example, mandates that a specific percentage of an organization’s workforce be made up of people with
disabilities. The exact percentage, typically between 2% to 5%, depends on organization size.[9] Ecuador also uses
quota policies to drive inclusion by mandating that companies employing over 25 employees fill 4% of staff
positions with individuals with disabilities.[10]

LGBTQ Communities

LGBTQ rights are protected and supported by progressive laws in many Latin American countries. Several
countries recognize same-sex marriage (including Brazil and Uruguay) and others (such as Argentina and
Colombia) allow same-sex couples to adopt.[11]

In the workplace, 14 Latin American countries have laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Organizations should keep this in mind when considering their options for family leave benefits. Despite anti-
discrimination policies geared towards protecting LGBTQ individuals, violence against them remains high.[12]
Organizations in this region should consider how to best ensure the inclusion and safety of LGBTQ employees.

Conclusion
These regulations are important throughout the region and violating them is often a criminal offense. In Mexico,
discrimination against any protected classes in the workplace is considered a felony, and in Brazil racial
discrimination can be punished with up to five years of imprisonment.

Though workforce diversity in Latin America centers on compliance and is often driven by affirmative action and
quotas, many organizations in this region are actively working to create more diverse and inclusive workplaces.
Thirty-two percent of organizations surveyed report offering gender-based diversity and inclusion employee
resource groups and many others report offering additional policies and programs to drive D&I, including
maternity/paternity leave and flexible work arrangements (Figure 3).[5]

With a rise in social awareness of these issues and the quantification of D&I initiatives’ business benefits,
organizations in this region will likely continue to create active strategies to build more diverse and inclusive
workforces.

Figure 3: Latin America’s D&I Policies and Programs Beyond Government Regulation

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Endnotes
[1] “Racial Diversity in Brazil ‘Turns to a New Page’,” Financial Times.

[2] “Afro-Descendants in Latin America,” The World Bank.

[3] “Affirmative Action in the Americas,” Americas Quarterly.

[4] “Dealing With Diversity; Global Workplace Discrimination Law and Practice,” Eversheds.

[5] “When Women Thrive, Businesses Thrive,” Mercer.

[6] “Latin America: Women Still Struggle for Equality at Work and at Home,” The World Bank.

[7] The informal sector consists of untaxed employment not monitored by the government and lacking formal
protections.

[8] “No Women, No Growth: The Case for Increasing Women’s Leadership in Latin America,” The World Bank.

[9] “Brazil Passes Inclusion of People With Disabilities Act,” Global Accessibility News.

[10] “The Law That Empowered Ecuador's Disabled,” BBC News.

[11] “The Perplexing Narrative About Being Gay in Latin America,” CNN.

[12] “LGBT in Latin America,” U.S. News

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