Hispanics Underrepresented In the Federal Workforce

Another obstacle, he said, is that "the government primarily employs professional- or administrative-type people, while a large percentage of Hispanic people work in other types of jobs."

The consequences are felt nationwide, Hispanic advocates say. The government suffers from a shortage of Spanish-speaking workers who could help non-English speakers navigate Social Security and other federal documents. In the chaotic aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the government discovered that it could not effectively communicate with displaced immigrants, legal and undocumented.

Money matters, too, Sandate said. The gap between federal and private-sector representation translates to 90,000 jobs and about $4 billion in federal salaries, according to an estimate compiled by Sandate's coalition.

That is all the more reason Hispanics should have a share of the federal pie, said Max Stier, president and chief executive of the Partnership for Public Service. "The federal government needs to represent our entire country, and to do that it needs to be representative of our entire country."

By most standards, the federal government overachieves when it comes to diversity. It has long been hailed as a model of workplace inclusion, particularly for black workers who are overrepresented relative to the private sector. The 7 percent employment rate of Hispanics is incongruous, considering that they make up 12 percent of the private workforce.

"Our position has always been 'You tell me what the job is and we can find qualified people to fill those positions,' " Sandate said.

Hispanic representation at the Office of Personnel Management, the Department of Commerce and HHS is especially meager -- each has less than 4 percent, according to an OPM report to President Bush, released in June.

The departments of Defense, Energy, Interior and State are not much better, with less than 6 percent each. Homeland Security, needing Spanish speakers at the border, has the largest proportion of Hispanic workers, 18 percent. The Social Security Administration and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have 12 and 13 percent representation, respectively.

The overall number of Hispanics in the federal government increased in 2004, but not by much. It went from 7 percent in 2003 to 7.3 percent, according to the report. There was also a slight increase in the number of Hispanics hired to senior positions.

"We're trying to correct 40 years of history, programs that haven't worked," Salazar said. "You can have the best recruiters, the best personnel. . . . There's a lot of follow-up, a lot of meetings with graduate students. You want the best and brightest."