¶ … Market Forces on Corporate Values In corporate settings, corporate values are today being affected by market forces relating to diversity and changes in demographics in America.

Employers have begun to recognize the need to address the new face of the workplace and the new diversity caused by the shift in demographics.

They have made strides to diversify the workplace and make the new demographics of their business place work just as well, if not better, than before. Part of the reason they have done so is because if they do not do so, it would affect their bottom line.

One of example of the new complexity of the workforce is that today's workers are much more diverse in age than in years past.

Workers in a company not only span the range from late teens to post-retirement age, but in many cases, executives at the same level in the company may span wide ranges of ages. In fact, young executives - for example, newly minted M.B.A.'s -- are often above older executives in the corporate hierarchy. This new widespread diversity of age in the workplace will have effects on the corporate workings.

First, companies will need to seriously consider whether, for example, they are looking to employ older employees on a retirement path, on a temporary...

In particular, the new trends in family situations have required employers to pay more attention to benefit and compensation packages that speak to the needs of these different types of home situations.
For example, a gay couple will be particularly interested in whether a company's health plan covers their significant other. If employers in the new economy ignore such needs, they will not be able to attract or retain quality employees from all segments of the population.

Another example: couples with shared child rearing responsibilities may ask their respective employers to let them work not part time per se, but work in…