EEOC Releases Federal Sector Report

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released its annual report on the state of equal employment opportunity (EEO) in the federal sector.

The report includes statistical workforce profiles and trends for 64 federal agencies, measures of agencies’ progress toward implementing model EEO programs, and a summary of select EEO program activities and best practices. Each agency’s profile highlights work force participation rates by race, gender, national origin and individuals with targeted disabilities, as well as the breakdown for major occupational categories. This report covers the period from Oct. 1, 2009 through Sept. 30, 2010.

According to the report, there has been little change in the composition of the federal workforce over the years. In fiscal year (FY) 2010, there were over 2.8 million people employed by the federal government, of whom 56% were men and 44% were women. Of that total:

• 65.4% were White
• 17.9%, Black or African American
• 7.9%, Hispanic or Latino
• 5.9%, Asian
• 1.6% American Indian or Alaska Native
• .08%, persons of two or more races
• .04%, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

Despite a modest gain of 554 employees in FY 2010, the participation rate of individuals with targeted disabilities remained at .88%. Targeted disabilities include deafness, blindness, missing extremities, partial or complete paralysis, convulsive disorders, intellectual disabilities, mental illness, and distortion of the limb and/or spine.

Over the last ten years, women, Hispanic or Latino, Black or African American, and Asian employees have made the most gains in securing senior level positions in the federal government. However, between FY 2009 and FY 2010, women, Hispanic or Latino men and women, men of two or more races, and white women remained below their overall availability in the national labor force.