Hispanics and Women Lag in Federal Workforce

In 2010, 31.2 percent of senior-level jobs were occupied by women, the report found, up from 30.4 percent in 2009.

The annual Federal Equal Opportunity Recruitment Program report found that the number of Hispanics and women in the federal workforce are lagging, while other minorities increasingly fill the senior-level ranks of government agencies.

The good news is that minorities as a whole were better represented in the federal workforce during fiscal 2010 at 33.8 percent, compared to 29.7 percent in the non-federal civilian workforce, the Office of Personnel Management.

The bad news is that just eight percent of the federal workforce is Hispanic, while 13.8 percent of the non-federal workforce is Hispanic and according to the 2010 Census make up 16.3 percent of the population.

In contrast, Blacks, who represent 10 percent of the population, hold 17.7 percent of the jobs in the federal government.

At the same time, while women make up more than half of the U.S. population, they were 43.9 percent of the federal workforce in fiscal 2010, down a bit from 44.2 percent in 2009.

Women are, though, making gains at the highest levels of the federal workforce. In 2010, 31.2 percent of senior-level jobs were occupied by women, the report found, up from 30.4 percent in 2009. Blacks made up 6.7 percent of the senior ranks, up from 6.4 percent in 2009.

The report did not say what percentage of Hispanics is in the senior ranks of the federal workforces.

The Americano/Agencies