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Return to Article: Federal workforce growing more diverse, says OPM

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  Selections of unqualified individuals has nothing to do with skin color. To claim that a woman or person of color is unqualified for the job simply because of that status is to ignore the significant number of incompetent white men that I've worked for over my nearly 30 years in government. By the way, I happen to be a white man who has struggled to reach the higher ranks because of class not color.

  Twinjay Posted May 5, 2008 8:45 AM
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  ....and this is exactly why government is failing its citizens. Too many people put into positions they aren't qualified except for the color of their skin. Not fair to the employees who can't perform and not fair to America.

  abbey Posted April 8, 2008 10:56 AM
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  I agree 100% with Gilbert,there are not Latino upper professionals to help others reach the top. And to Tip off - get into the real life>reality check,,horrible comparison to the "Cashmere Mafia" Just my opinion...

  Norma Posted February 27, 2008 2:25 PM
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  And this is supposed to be a good thing?

  Just saying Posted February 22, 2008 3:34 PM
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  John Larsen, You are so way OFF, you don't even understand the argument. The real reason that Hispanics are underrepresented is because there was no one above them to help them up the ranks, like in the other groups. Until then and until selecting officials are held accountable then nothing will ever get done.

  Gilbert Posted February 21, 2008 1:42 PM
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  Interesting feedback, the sides seem to be firming up. I really have no dog in this fight since I'm about as happy as a clam can be with little or no desire to seek my Peter Principle position, but ...

  On my post and in my series, women are not merely well represented; they quite simply dominate. It's widely perceived as a highly visible example of the "Cashmere Mafia". Minorities do at least as well, with several examples of those two groups overlapping. And I've seen obvious examples of mentoring and grooming between social familiars.

  In the training arena, it truly does appear the white male is an endangered species. But, hey, the job's getting done. I'm doing fine. The headache is on someone else's shoulders. But the funny thing is, they don't seem all that enthusiastic about their success. LOL.

  Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the club! Along with the lauds, the applause, and the baubles comes the aggravation, indigestion, and finally resignation...

  Tip off Posted February 20, 2008 2:34 PM
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  Did anyone read the proposed legislation? There are quotas for who can be on the qualifications boards. I'm surprised it does say one of the members must be a one-eye, morbidly obese, alcoholic, diabetic, smoker with Tourette's syndrome, just to make sure they cover all the bases.

  What a crock! Posted February 19, 2008 4:01 PM
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  It has nothing to do with Affirmative Action or qualifications. Growing diverse, how many GS-12 and up minorities do you see? Question: If you have all white men in the management positions making decisions, what color do you think the next hired person will be? It is sad to say but people just like to hire crazy people that look like and sound like them. Just look at the number of GS-12s that are minorities. No wonder they cant apply for GS13s or higher. They are being denied the entry level GS-12 management positions which is a requirement to apply for the higher GS-13 and up positions.

  Will Posted February 19, 2008 11:18 AM
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  To Jack: Why don't we talk about all the unqualified whites who are still around because minorities weren't even given a chance to be hired? They are usually the first ones to complain about minorities being unqualified.

  TheTruth Posted February 18, 2008 11:46 AM
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  The more diverse the workforce gets, the dumber it gets. When 'leaders' are given their position just because of a 'needed' ethnicity, the dumbing down process begins. A leader can't have people smarter than themselves. Been happening for the 35 years I have been working in government.

  abbey Posted February 16, 2008 10:10 AM
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  The more diverse the workforce gets, the dumber it gets. When 'leaders' are given their position just because of a 'needed' ethnicity, the dumbing down process begins. A leader can't have people smarter than themselves. Been happening for the 35 years I have been working in government.

  abbey Posted February 16, 2008 10:09 AM
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  OPM couldn't figure their way out of a wet paper bag. Several federal civil servants within OPM got their higher grades by filing frivolous EEO complaints and grieved issue after issue until they settled on a grade up. That's all they wanted anyway. What a pitiful little agency. OPM is broken and everyone knows it.

  Mr Bill Posted February 15, 2008 2:41 PM
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  The numbers are skewed. With the heavy influence of contractors supporting the DOD, the number of women/hispanics in those contract positions should be considered in the amounts. In reality, the percntages should match up with our fighting forces just like our pay raises.

  Austin Posted February 15, 2008 10:16 AM
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  I'm all for affirmative action in theory, but in practice I tend to see quite a few unqualified individuals who are hired just because of their minority status. This may have been necessary 40 years ago to combat individual prejudices, but I feel that as a country we have moved past that method of thinking. Ideally, shouldn't we just ignore race all together and just hire the person instead of the skin color?

  Just my 2 cents.

  Jack Posted February 15, 2008 8:31 AM
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  What a crock! GAO exploded the myth of Hispanic underrepresentation. When citizenship and education are considered, Hispanics are overrepresented in the federal work force by about 25%.

  John Larsen Posted February 15, 2008 8:29 AM
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  Scoff. OPM does not know how to read their own data! It's not all women that are underrepresented, it's Hispanic and White women. Of course, EEOC is right, targeted (severe) disabilities should be included in the reports.

  A few years ago, GAO released a derogatory report on the lack of cooperation and coordination between EEOC and OPM. Seems things have not improved. Sigh.

  Charleen Posted February 15, 2008 8:01 AM
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  High performance or affirmative action agenda? How about merit responsibility and promotion to increase performance rather than continue to enforce an antiquated system!

  One Nation Posted February 15, 2008 7:09 AM