Federal workforce remains diverse, report says

The percentage of minorities working in the federal government increased slightly from 1999 to 2000, in the midst of Clinton administration reinvention efforts that resulted in government downsizing, according to a study released Monday by the Office of Personnel Management. OPM's annual Federal Equal Opportunity Recruitment Program report found that the percentage of minorities in the federal workforce increased from 30 percent in 1999 to 30.4 percent in 2000. The federal workforce decreased by 1.6 percent during that same time period. Although the increase is slight, the federal government still generally outpaces the private sector in its representation of minorities, the report found. Black representation in the federal workforce climbed 0.2 percent from 1999 to 2000. The percentage of Asian and Pacific Islanders working for the federal government climbed from 4.2 percent in 1999 to 4.3 percent in 2000. Native Americans employed by the federal government grew from 1.9 percent in 1999 to 2 percent in 2000. The report, which also compared pay levels and job positions of minorities and non-minorities, found that the percentage of minorities in grades GS-13 through GS-15 rose from 18.5 percent in 1999 to 19.2 percent in 2000. And while the percentage of women in the federal workforce decreased during that time period, the percentage of women in grades GS-13 to GS-15 increased by 1.4 percent to 30.7 percent. The percentage of women and racial minorities earning pay above the GS-15 grade level increased as well. The Education Department employed the highest percentage of minorities--46.3 percent--while the Agriculture Department had the lowest representation at 20.9 percent. "This year's report demonstrates the government's commitment to ensuring a diverse federal workforce," said OPM Acting Director Steven Cohen. "The report also clearly shows that much work remains to be done." According to the report, Hispanics and women are the only groups that are underrepresented in the federal workforce. Hispanics make up only 6.6 percent of the federal workforce compared to 11.8 of the private sector workforce. Women constituted 46.6 percent of the private sector labor force and 43.8 percent of the federal labor force. Last month a General Accounting Office report on diversity at the highest levels of the civil service prompted Democratic legislators to lobby the Bush administration for more aggressive promotion of women and minorities into the Senior Executive Service. GAO's report found the number of women and minorities in the Senior Executive Service increased slightly during the 1990s.