GovernmentExecutive.com

The percentage of Hispanics in federal jobs continues to rise slowly, but the number hired took a step backward last year, according to figures released Thursday.

As of June 2006, Hispanics made up 7.5 percent of 1.7 million federal workers, up just slightly from 7.4 percent at the same time the previous year, a report from the Office of Personnel Management stated. The percentage has increased steadily since 1996, when Hispanics made up 6 percent of the federal workforce.

But while their representation has grown by 1.5 percentage points over the past decade, even the latest figure remains far short of the roughly 12.6 percent of Hispanics in the general civilian labor force.

And the percentage of new federal hires who were Hispanic dropped, from 8.2 percent as of the June 2005 statistics to 7.7 percent in the latest figures. The statistics indicate that Hispanics were "hired into the lowest-paying jobs," said Gilbert Sandate, chairman of the Coalition for Fairness for Hispanics in Government.

Just 4.2 percent of new senior executive level hires were Hispanic, compared to 7.1 percent of hires for blue-collar jobs, 8.6 percent of hires at the GS-1 to GS-4 levels and 10.2 percent of new GS-5 to GS-8 employees.

Hispanics' overall representation by pay level also decreased at the higher grades.

The low representation and low hiring rates for senior jobs are very serious problems, said Jorge Ponce, co-chairman of the Council of Federal EEO and Civil Rights Executives.

"It is at the senior pay [level] ... where decisions are made and budgets are approved," Ponce said. "So if you really want to have a positive impact ... I think the senior pay rank is where the first steps should be taken. Then you'll have a trickle-down effect."

OPM's report should serve as a "call to action by the Bush administration and the Congress to fix, once and for all, the broken federal personnel hiring system," Sandate said. "At their current rate of hire, Hispanics will never reach parity with their numbers in the national civilian labor force."

But figures varied widely across government, with some agencies far exceeding the national statistics. The Homeland Security Department employed the highest percentage of Hispanics, at 18.6 percent in June 2006, and brought them in as new hires at the second-highest rate. The Social Security Administration had the highest percentage of new hires who were Hispanic, at 15.7 percent, and employed the third-highest percentage of them overall, at 12.7 percent.

The Justice and Treasury departments placed among the top five in both areas. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was second for percentage of Hispanics employed, and NASA was third for hiring.

OPM's report noted that agencies with good track records on employing and recruiting Hispanics use tactics such as community outreach. DHS, for instance, shared information about employment opportunities with regional Hispanic newspapers and Spanish language media outlets such as Telemundo and Univision.

Officials at some agencies within DHS also circulated job vacancy announcements to Hispanic organizations on a regular basis, and the department established policies to rate senior executives and managers in part based on their commitment to building a diverse workforce.

In a letter to President Bush accompanying the report, OPM Director Linda Springer reiterated a commitment to establishing "a federal workforce that draws from America's diverse population" and to developing "innovative means of reaching out to diverse communities, including the Hispanic community."

Sandate suggested that the government could do more to recruit Hispanics through flexible hiring such as the Student Career Experience Program, which allows agencies to noncompetitively hire interns to permanent jobs after they complete school and meet a requirement for hours of federal work experience, and the Bilingual/Bicultural program, which encourages the hiring of applicants with Spanish language skills or Hispanic culture knowledge.

According to the latest OPM statistics, 7.6 percent of hires through the SCEP were Hispanic. A total of 16 Hispanics were hired through the Bilingual/Bicultural program from July 2005 to June 2006.

The report did not include figures on hiring of Hispanics through the Outstanding Scholar Program, another avenue through which Hispanics could be recruited, Ponce said.

COMMENTS

• It is sad that all people can see when they encounter the word "hispanic" is immigrants. Some of us were born here in the United States and consider this our country. Just because our ancestors are from another country that doesn't mean our allegiance is to that country. I'm a U.S. citizen, always been and always will. I have a B.S. in Civil Engineering, a Master in Businees Administration, and a Master's Certificate in Project Management. Being the only hispanic in my region means that I'm always overlooked for promotions and the opportunities to go up are not available for me. I'm always commended and praise for my work but when it comes to my performance appraisal the rating is different. Whether we like it or not racism and discrimination is rampant in the U.S. Government. I'm not an illegal immigrant, I'm just another american trying to succed in his own country. By the way, my country is the United States of America. Raul Murguia Posted July 24, 2007 9:43 AM
• Thanks for the history lesson, "Taxpayer". It's amazing how many people do not know our nation's history, and how many are willing to make outrageous and incorrect statements in order to justify their positions. The United States of America, even with it's flaws, is the greatest nation on earth. It has welcomed immigrants since it was founded, and continues to welcome legal immigrants who obey our laws. In fact, no other nation welcomes as many immigrants as this country. Contrast our policies with those of Mexico, which severely punished illegal immigration, yet complains when we try to control our borders. What hypocrisy! I recently saw a cartoon that pretty much sums up the issue of immigration today. The Statue of Liberty is depicted saying, "Give me your tired...your poor...your huddled masses yearning to--um-- yearning to--", then looking up at an enormous tidal wave captioned "3 million illegal aliens per year", at which the Statue says, "Holy &$%#!!". GovExec.com reader Posted March 20, 2007 8:07 PM
• Most of the earlier immigrants came here legally. The point everyone seems to be skipping over is these are illegal immigrants. Just because the immigrants south of the border crossed the border by hook or crook does give them any rights and does not make them legal. They have broken the law. They may be filling a job market in the US but they are also sending millions of US dollars out of the country. The way to fix this problem is to set up several processing centers (like Ellis Island to include a passing a medical exam) to issue Green Cards or start the procedure to make them legal without penalty but with no special exemptions. Do not change the education system to Spanish but require the immigrants to learn English like all other immigrants before them. By becoming a citizen both the immigrant and the US benefits. GovExec.com reader Posted March 15, 2007 3:45 PM