New York City’s Human Rights Commission has pointed out a deficit in the percentage of black workers in upper positions at the city’s advertising firms. Research showed that just 25 people in the upper echelon of the advertising industry are black, and although about 22% of workers in the industry make more than $100,000 a year, only 2.5% of the highly-compensated employees are black.

A dozen agencies have agreed to set numerical goals for increasing black representation on their creative and managerial staffs and to report on their progress annually. These companies will report hiring, promotion, and retention figures to the commission. If they do not meet their goals in three years, they will hire an outside consultant to help them. The companies have also agreed to set up diversity boards and to link progress to manager’s compensation.

African-Americans make up 25% of the New York population and the city’s ad industry accounts for 46,000 area jobs. The industry’s failure to hire and promote minorities has put it at odds with its clients who are trying to reach an increasingly diverse marketplace. Clients have often made the argument that a more diverse advertising staff could better target the diversity of the American shopper.

Ad agencies often say that recruiting is one of the toughest challenges for them because they are in competition with Wall Street and Fortune 100 companies for top minority talent.

Omnicom, which owns agencies like BBDO, DDB and Merkley, says that although it is not a part of the agreement, it will pursue its own strategy for obtaining a more diverse workforce. The company will spend at least $2.35 million on a diversity program that will include an institute at Medgar Evers College. The company will also recruit at historically black colleges across the country. The City Council will match $1 million of Omnicom’s funds for the institute.