OPM released its annual report on Hispanic employment in the federal workforce recently, showing that by the end of fiscal 2012, total permanent federal employment for Hispanics increased from 157,693 in fiscal 2011 to 159,651 in fiscal 2012, an increase of 1,958 — 0.1 percentage points.
Of the 25 large agency and department workforces, 20 increased their percentage of Hispanics on-board, zero posted declines, and five remained unchanged during that period, the report said.
It’s unclear if OPM’s diversity efforts have had a noticeable impact considering that increasing Hispanic representation in the federal government parallels demographic shifts in the overall population; even with the slight increase, Hispanics remain substantially under-represented in the federal workforce at just above 8 percent compared to nearly 15 percent in the general population.
Hispanic new hires into the senior executive service decreased from 5.4 percent in 2011 to 2 percent in 2012. OPM said it continues to develop and implement training for SES candidates within the Hispanic community and improve data analytics and transparency for SES selections.
OPM noted that it renewed the Hispanic Council on Federal Employment through December 2014, which brings together leaders from the Hispanic community with federal agencies and is advising OPM and working collaboratively to implement successful practices related to the recruitment, hiring, retention, and advancement of Hispanics in the federal workplace.
DHS continues to employ the largest percentage of Hispanics, with 20.9 percent of its total workforce identified as Hispanic, followed by the Social Security Administration at 14.5 percent, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission at 13.6 percent, and the Department of Treasury at 9.5 percent.
