The Effects of 9/11 and Terrorism on Human Resource Management

September 11, 2001 was a day that will forever reside in the collective memory of the world. On that fateful morning, 19 terrorists who were in affiliation with Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror organization hijacked four planes. The hijackers crashed two American Airlines jets into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, A third plane into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C and a fourth crash landed in Pennsylvania as passengers attempted to take control of the plane. Nearly 3000 people died as a result of the attacks. In response to the attacks, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) , led by the United States, invaded the country of Afghanistan in October 2001 followed by the United States' invasion of Iraq on March 20, 2003. However, as a result of the attacks, the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and the brutal and gruesome insurgencies that have followed the invasions worldwide, there has been a tide of hatred stemmed towards those of Middle Eastern descent, the Islamic faith, and those who have been mistaken to be Muslims (e.g. Sikhs). This hatred has purveyed itself into the practices of Human Resources, through the fears and angers of and misconceptions and misunderstandings by employers and coworkers. This allowed discrimination to enter many organizations and as a result many bodies had to examine the state of Human Resources and set forth guidelines to ensure that discrimination was eliminated.

Due to the emotional impact of the 9/11 attacks on the United States, there was a sense of fear amongst many citizens, which culminated in high levels of discriminatory actions towards peoples who were Muslim or resembled or were mistaken to be Muslim. This was further perpetrated by employers throughout the country. As a result, the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights directed the Civil Rights Division's