Friday, March 29, 2024

Obama Administration Calls for More Diversity in Federal Government

President Obama issued an executive order on Thursday that requires government agencies to improve diversity within federal hiring.

In 90 days the Administration will create a new administrative body that will develop a government wide-plan, followed by detailed plans for each agency.

“The federal government has a special opportunity to lead by example,” says John Berry, director of the Office of Personnel Management. “We will only succeed in our critical mission with a workforce that hails from, represents and is connected to the needs of every American community,” he adds.

After the government wide- plan is released, each agency has 120 days to present its own diversity plan with an emphasis on recruitment, training and promotion.

The latest Federal Equal Opportunity Recruitment Program Report indicated that whites still hold more than 81 percent of senior pay-level positions. women hold 31 percent, African Americans 7 percent and Latinos 4 percent.

Because those numbers don’t represent our country’s population, the order stands to successfully diversify federal hiring and will benefit millions of job seekers.

Washingtonpost.com