October 12, 2001

The President
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

I am pleased to transmit the first annual report on Hispanic Employment in the Federal Government pursuant to Executive Order 13171.

It is disappointing to have to report to you that, after three decades, underrepresentation of Hispanics continues to be a serious problem in the Federal workforce. While some progress has been made, it is clear that we are not fully tapping the talent in the Hispanic community for public service. About one of every eight people in the United States today claims Hispanic origin, while Hispanics comprise only 6.6% of permanent Federal employees.

I am optimistic, however, that we have reached a turning point. At your direction, Federal departments and agencies have taken the first steps in strategic management of their human capital resources. The workforce analyses and restructuring plans can serve as a roadmap for agencies to create and develop a diverse, high-quality workforce if they use workforce and succession planning as an opportunity to identify barriers to diversity, develop a plan for recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce, and establish accountability measures and identify successes and needed improvements.

You have set a strong example for Federal departments and agencies by recruiting and appointing highly qualified Hispanics to serve in your administration. You have made very clear your commitment to bringing the best and the brightest into public service at all levels and to making sure that our Federal workforce reflects the full diversity of the American people.

As your Director of Personnel Management, I take that charge very seriously. Both the commitment and urgency were strongly communicated when I convened the first meeting of the Interagency Task Force on Hispanic Employment in the Federal Government on October 4. We will continue to use this task force to identify effective models for enhancing the recruitment and professional development of Hispanics at the agency level.

At OPM, I have already begun to take several pro-active steps to reach out to the Hispanic community.

• We are expanding and improving employment outreach with Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) as well as with the business community, trade and professional organizations, unions, minority advocacy groups, and fraternal organizations to enlist their help in finding high-quality employees.

• We are producing Spanish-language Public Service Announcements and we are translating many of our job information fact sheets into Spanish for placement on our USAJOBS web site as well as reaching out to Hispanic media outlets nationwide.

• Over the past several months, we have invited over 600 minority organizations to participate in making public service opportunities available from their web sites by linking to the USAJOBS site.

• We have organized several well attended career services conferences in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and San Antonio, Texas, to facilitate networks between recruiting agencies and HSIs.

The document that I am submitting today surveys current agency practices that are intended to improve Hispanic representation. While a variety of activities have been reported, it is clear that we need to look critically at what we have been doing and figure out why initiatives agencies have followed in the past have not worked as well as they had hoped. The report also identifies some important next steps that must be taken if we are to make real progress. Among them are identifying and establishing forums to showcase and share best practices in Federal agencies - as well as the private sector - and developing meaningful measurements and accountability models.

As we face the difficult challenges ahead, the need to bring good people into public service has never been greater. I look forward to leading an aggressive effort to reach out to the Hispanic community and welcome every talented citizen with skills to contribute and a willingness to serve. As the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, I am personally committed to this effort and to assuring that your objective of a workforce that is truly citizen-centered and representative of the great diversity of our nation is at long last met.
Respectfully submitted,

Kay Coles James
Director

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