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Press Release
April 19, 2001
Contact:
Rick Callender, San Jose
NAACP President
(408) 483-1936
San
Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP President Calls for Equity in Layoffs
SAN JOSE - On the heels of major layoffs by Cisco, HP and other Silicon Valley companies, today Rick L. Callender, President of the San Jose/Silicon Valley
NAACP issued a challenge to Silicon Valley companies to respect and consider diversity when implementing layoffs in this downtrodden economy.
Rick Callender has written a letter to the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group asking them to co-author a letter to their member companies encouraging
diversity to be considered and respected when cutting staff.
Callender said, "During this economic slowdown it is extremely important
that companies respect diversity when making cuts, both in terms of their employee
retention and mentoring efforts, qualified existing staff and college based outreach programs. " Further, Callender said, "A lot of
companies have tried to, and have made significant gains in recruiting diverse staff members and I
would hate to see companies unconsciously take a step backwards. We need our remaining employees to reflect the diversity of the valley."
Callender also plans to write letters to several Silicon Valley CEO's
including Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina and Cisco CEO John Chambers to ask for their commitment to diversity in addition to asking the Silicon
Valley Manufacturing Group to join the NAACP in communicating with their member companies.
Founded in 1954, the San Jose Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is part of the nation's oldest and
largest civil organization. Tha NAACP has over a half-million adult and youth members throughout the United States and the world who are the premier
advocates for civil rights.
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