Remarks by Bill Marriott, Chairman and CEO Marriott International Inc.
Summit on the 21st Century Workforce, June 20, 2001
MCI Center, Washington, DC

MR. MARRIOTT: Thank you for that introduction, Jimmy. And thank you for all you do for Marriott. And thank you, Mr. President, and congratulations to Secretary Elaine Chao.

On the occasion of this 21st anniversary work force summit, Jimmy's story is very important. Because he is one of the representatives of the new work force. Years ago, employers would never have considered Jimmy's unique challenges. He was in need of help with job training, housing and transportation, dimensions of life that weren't a part of the traditional discussions around employment possibilities. Today, these are critical points, and they are no longer unique. Jimmy works at the Weston Marriott Hotel, here in Washington, where the employees come from 35 different countries -- just one example of how the work force is changing. Now let me take a look at some of the other changes.

I think the one with a huge impact is women in the workplace. Women now make up 46 percent of our national work force, and continue to enter the workplace at a faster pace than men. So today, only 10 percent of families are those where one parent remains in the home and one parent works. In fact, one of the biggest problems facing working families is access to quality child care, and other work and family benefits. Today, 13 million of the 21 million children in our country are in child care regularly. So now we find ourselves having to focus on working families rather than just individual workers.

That certainly is not the only change. Some predict that by 2010, women, people of color, and immigrants together could make up 80 percent of the total American work force. This actually describes Marriott today, as 78 percent of our hourly work force is made up of women, people of color, and recent immigrants, and our management staff is already made up of 62 percent of these people.

In addition to the work force becoming more diverse in terms of gender and ethnic background, we're getting older. Beginning this year through 2014, 10,000 people every day will turn 50 years old. As the Baby Boom generation begins to retire, there will be fewer workers available to take their place and to step into new jobs as our economy grows.

You know, it's important to remember that this increasingly rich diversity not only defines our national work force, but also our society overall. We would be very foolish to assume that one solution can fit all. People in today's work force are finding they must cope with an ever increasing pace of change, driven in part by our competitive global economy. So as we all work hard to attract and retain a quality work force, we must respond to the many changing issues that affect them and their families.

My dad founded our company on the philosophy that if you take good care of the employees, they will take good care of the customers, and the customers will come back. The service our people give is the only thing that we have to sell, the only thing that our customers buy, since we really don't manufacture anything. Our people are our most important asset, so we must continually look for innovative ways to accommodate their changing and challenging lives, whether there is a need for work flexibility, help with elder care, housing assistance or education training opportunities, we as corporations and employers need to be flexible enough to respond. If a worker doesn't speak English and needs help with child care, we as employers need to find corrective solutions so our human resources organizations must be very nimble.

The United States is a growth economy, and we need to ensure that we capitalize on all our human talent to manage that tremendous growth. Just as Jimmy is contributing to our business success, we in turn are providing an opportunity for him to grow and develop new skills. It's a win/win situation.

In summary, today's work force wants assistance in balancing the demands of work and home life, they want more time with their families, good child care options, flexibility in arranging their work schedules, and a challenging and rewarding work experience. In order to accomplish this, we have to be more nimble, flexible, and creative.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to participate in this important summit. Marriott International is committed to working with the administration and the Department of Labor and others, to ensure -- in your words, Secretary Chao - that no worker is left behind. Thank you very much. (Applause)

Now it's my pleasure to introduce the District of Columbia's One-Stop Center.