The Federal Employment of People with Disabilities Report states that barriers to federal employment remain and that the number of people with disabilities employed is low. This language is an understatement.
Take a look at the statistics following this statement. They listed the statistics of the agencies with the highest rate of employment and those came in at a range of 2.65% for EEOC down to Education, which is 1.36% (see page 7 of the report). In 2007, the number of people with targeted disabilities employed in the total workforce was under 1%. And there's more.
From FY 1998 to FY 2007, the total workforce increased by 128,973 employees, a net change of 5.20 percent. However, the number of federal employees with targeted disabilities 1 decreased from 28,035 in FY 1998 to 23,993 in FY 2007, a net loss of 14.42 percent.
The rate of leaving the workforce was twice the usual rate, which prompted those writing the report to say that it's necessary to hire at a rate that exceeds the separation rate to raise the number of people with disabilities. (employees with targeted disabilities accounted for 0.55 percent of total new hires but 0.92 percent of separations)
The recommendations begin at page 11 of the report. They include training, more studies, marketing and allowing CAP to provide accommodations. (Good idea.)
The recommendation to job seekers with disabilities at page 13 is to seek employment in agencies with critical hiring needs (that makes sense for everyone, doesn't it and has nothing to do with disability or addressing the problems) and to seek employment in those agencies that have shown a commitment to hiring people with targeted disabilities.
This same suggestion was worded this way: One recommendation is for job seekers, encouraging people with disabilities to take advantage of the information available on opportunities in the Federal Government.
But when you read the report, it reads to seek employment in the same agencies that have the most hiring of people with disabilities. What if we want to work somewhere else and our skill base doesn't fit in those agencies? And how will that bring about change?
Despite this, the following statement was issued:
NCD Employment Committee Co-Chair Linda Wetters added, “Recognition of continuing barriers to federal employment has led to some promising solutions that could create opportunities for agencies seeking qualified workers and for persons with disabilities seeking employment with the Federal Government.”
Update: Who does the Federal government hire? from Bad Cripple
2 comments:
Thanks for the link to my post. I thought the recommendations were less than helpful. They consisted of common sense or were misleading. Apply to "agencies that have shown a commitment"? Well, exactly which agency has shown a commitment when less than 1% of employees have a disability! This report is an example of why policy work is sometimes pointless. Action, we need action.
Your post is great. Yes we do need action. Lauding those statistics for agencies, holding them up as having a commitment is laughable.
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