In 2011 Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) accounted for 51.3 percent of the workforce but in 2021 only 23 percent. Image: NetVideo/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe federal workforce experienced only “minor” demographic changes over 2011-2021 but during that time there was a generational change as Generation X replaced Baby Boomers as the largest segment of the workforce.
As have other statistical reports from OPM, the data showed that—using the report’s terminology—representation of Whites fell from 71.7 percent to 67.9; Black or African American rose from 19.2 to 19.8; Asian rose from 5.7 to 6.9; American Indian or Alaska Native remained 2 percent; Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander rose from 0.4 to 0.6 percent; and more than one race rose from 1.1 to 2.8 percent.
The percentages of federal employees in the listed minority groups exceeded the percentage in the overall U.S. workforce in each case. Meanwhile, the share of the federal workforce deemed to have disabilities under EEO standards is about three times that of the overall workforce.
However, “the percentage of females in the federal workforce in FY 2021 was lower than the percentage of females in the FY 2021 civilian labor force” and despite an increase over that time, “the representation of Hispanics in the federal workforce was about 50 percent less than their representation in the civilian labor force.”
Senior executive ranks remain disproportionately male and White in comparison with shares in the entire federal workforce, although less so than in 2011, it said.
By generations, the data show that in 2011 Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) accounted for 51.3 percent of the workforce but in 2021 only 23 percent. Generation X (born 1965-1980) increased from 35.6 percent to 44.6 percent, and Generation Y, or Millennials (born 1981-1996), from 10.8 to 30.5 percent.
Generation Z (born 1997 and after) first entered the workforce in 2017 and constituted 1.7 percent in 2021. Traditionalists (born before 1946) fell from 2.4 to 0.2 percent over 2011-2021.
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