Minorities, Women Gain in Top Jobs

Despite recent federal job cuts, the percentage of women and minorities in the top levels of the federal civil service increased during fiscal 1995, the Office of Personnel Management said on Aug. 5 in its annual report to Congress on the Federal Equal Opportunity Recruitment Program.

OPM reported that the percentage of women in the top three grades of the General Schedule (GS-13 to GS-15), in the Senior Executive Service and at other executive levels went up 6.2 percent in fiscal 1995, while the percentage of minorities rose 5.2 percent. During 1995, agencies eliminated more than 58,000 jobs.

The figures come as something of a surprise, since many observers had feared that the job cuts would fall disproportionately on women and minorities, who tend to be concentrated at the middle and lower levels of the federal workforce. OPM Director James B. King said the figures showed that the Administration's use of $25,000 buyouts to try to entice senior-level employees to leave had been effective. The buyouts, said King, have helped "protect the jobs and advances made by younger women and minorities who often have less seniority than their colleagues in comparable jobs."

In the overall federal workforce, minorities held 28.5 percent of jobs in 1995, OPM reported, up 0.3 percent from 1994. Minorities hold 25 percent of all jobs in the civilian labor force.

Copies of the report are available on OPM Mainstreet, the agency's electronic bulletin board (202-606-4800), or by calling 202-606-1800.