In Hiring, a Friend in Need Is a Prospect, Indeed; New York Times, 1/27/13

Nelson D. Schwartz, New York Times; In Hiring, a Friend in Need Is a Prospect, Indeed: "Ms. Swan of Manpower cautions that although employee referrals are a valuable tool, “you have to watch the ultimate long-term result in terms of diversity and skills.” Otherwise, she warned, “you’re going to get people like you have.” People tend to recommend people much like themselves, economists say, a phenomenon known as assortative matching. Mr. Topa’s study for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that 63.5 percent of employees recommended candidates of the same sex, while 71.5 percent favored the same race or ethnicity. As a result, some companies are trying to make sure the proportion of employees who are recommended doesn’t get too high even as they expand their referral programs."