Are generational differences a problem for Sacramento businesses? How represented are women and minorities? Last week, new regional data released at the annual Sacramento Business Review showed some progress made in terms of the “Human Resources Barometer,” but critical challenges still remain. Jessica Kriegel, a management professional who presented at last week’s event, joined Insight to talk about what the data means.

"We wanted to know how are we doing in human resources across the board," explained Kriegel. "The most intriguing finding, in my opinion, that we found was around gender diversity. And we saw that women were underrepresented at the top levels of the organization."

Only 26 percent of the women who responded own a company, compared with 74 percent of men. The survey also found women believe the "system" favors men. Only 12 percent of men said women have fewer opportunities to advance than men. For women, it was 35 percent.

Kriegel said there was a disparity between men and women about how salaries are set.

"That includes: compensation, benefits, gender diversity, racial diversity as well as recruitment methods," said Kreigel. "When we asked whether people thought that the better their performance the better their compensation would be, 55 percent of men said true whereas only 34 percent of women said true."

She also said only 26-percent of the women who responded own a company, compared to 74-percent of men. 

The good news is, Kriegel says the Sacramento region is back to a pre-recession level of jobs.

"But the jobs that we got back were not as high-paying. So there are more jobs in retail and hospitality," said Kriegel.