Over the past decade, just 150 Latino employees have been added to the state workforce, according to analysis released in Springfield on Wednesday, May 11, by the Latino Policy Forum and the Illinois Association for Hispanic State Employees (IAHSE). More than 14 percent of labor force in Illinois, Latinos were only 4.7 percent of the state government workforce in 2010, with just over 2,000 state employees.
“To achieve parity, nearly 4,300 Latinos would need to be hired at the state level. But in these lean economic times, such parity will be difficult to achieve,” said Martha Lopez, president of IAHSE. “However, despite state belt-tightening, Illinois did hire or promote more than 2,600 times last year – and less than 200 of those positions were filled by Latinos. We must ensure that Latinos are aware of and being considered for these openings.”
Employment disparities are particularly troubling given that Latinos accounted for more than 100 percent of the population growth in Illinois over the last decade. The nearly 500,000 more Latinos in Illinois compensated for White and African American population declines. Overall, Illinois grew by just over 411,000 people. The Latino Policy Forum analysis is based on fiscal year 2010 employment data for the ten largest state agencies, on file with the Secretary of State, which represent 93.3 percent of the employees in coded state-level positions. Of the 44,841 employees, less than five percent were Latino. Of new hires, only 7.6 percent were Latino.
“Race-based hiring practices are illegal—race or ethnicity should not be a factor in any hiring decision, at the state level or otherwise,” said Sylvia Puente, executive director of the Latino Policy Forum. “But the bottom line is that the state has cited workforce diversity as a priority, and it is falling woefully short of its goals in this area.”
Springfield recognizes the value of a diverse workforce. Since 2005, the state has required annual progress reports on objectives outlined in the State of Illinois Hispanic Employment Plan, designed to increase the number of Latino employees in the workforce. Both 2009 and 2010 updates included hopeful reports of “record” numbers of Hispanic state employees, but recognized that much work is yet to be done to achieve full representation. The economic downturn has also tempered progress in employment parity, reducing the total number of state employees by nearly 25 percent since 2000. While the total numbers of Caucasian, Asian and African American employees have decreased as a result of layoffs and retirement, the number of Latino employees did increase, but only by 150 people.
