The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a new report that examines diversity across the Federal workforce and finds “minor increases” in representation of many minority groups from fiscal years (FY) 2011 through 2021.
The report, issued on Nov. 17, found small increases in representation in the Federal workforce of people who are Black or African American, Asian, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, American Indian or Alaska Native, and persons of more than one race.
The percentage of Hispanic employees in the Federal workforce increased by 1.4 percent from FY2011 to 2021. However, in FY2021 Hispanic individuals made up 10 percent of the Federal workforce, even though they represented 18 percent of the civilian labor force.
One area in which the Federal government excelled was in the representation of people with disabilities. From FY2011 to 2021, the number of people with disabilities in the Federal workforce doubled and was about three times that of the representation in the FY2021 civilian labor force.
Additionally, men and women in each historically disadvantaged racial group and white women made positive gains in Senior Executive Service (SES) positions from FY2011 to 2021 – with the exception of the Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander group. There were no Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander employees in SES positions in either FY2011 or 2021.
Hispanics slightly increased their number of employees in SES positions and percent (1 percent) over the 10-year period.
While the number of white males in SES positions decreased, GAO said they’re still the most represented group in SES, filling over half of all SES positions.
Finally, the report found that historically disadvantaged groups were generally hired, promoted, and separated at higher rates in FY2021 than in FY2011.
GAO said it provided copies of the report to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). OPM had no comments, and EEOC provided technical comments that GAO said it incorporated where appropriate.
