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Kenney's administration doesn't yet mirror the city it serves

Mayor Kenney wants local government to mirror Philadelphia’s demographics but it's not quite there. A report released Thursday by the city's Office of Diversity and Inclusion shows that the while overall numbers of city employment reflect the city’s demographic in some areas, the higher paying jobs are held mostly by white employees.

Mayor Kenney wants local government to mirror Philadelphia's demographics.

A report released Thursday by the city's Office of Diversity and Inclusion shows that he's not there yet. Overall, city employees reflect Philadelphia's ethnic and gender demographics in some areas but the higher paying jobs are held mostly by white employees.

"The creation of this report is unprecedented in that we now have a clear sense of where we are, which is essential to figuring out what we need to do in order to get where we want to be," Kenney said in a statement. "While there is some encouraging news, it is clear we still have a long way to go to make the city government look like the citizens it serves."

Out of Philadelphia's 1.5 million population, 44 percent are African American, 35 percent are white, 14 percent are Hispanic or Latino and 7 percent are Asian. In addition, 53 percent of the total population are female.

Out of the city's 26,510 employees, 50 percent are African American, 40 percent are white, 6 percent are Latino and 3 percent are Asian. In addition, 62 percent of all employees are male.

The city's 2,379 exempt employees — those who are appointed and not required to pass the civil service examinations to acquire their positions — are the focus of the study and are 55 percent female. Of the 2,161 employees who disclosed their ethnicity or race, 45 percent are white, 40 percent are African American, 8 percent are Hispanic or Latino and 5 percent are Asian.

"Latinos are consistently underrepresented in the city's workforce, as they comprise 14% of the city's population but only 6% of the entire workforce, and 8% of the exempt workforce," the report stated.

Of the new hires by the Kenney administration this year, almost 40 percent were African American, 35 percent were white, 7 percent were Latino and 5 percent were Asian.

Within the executive exempt employee category -- defined as those exempts who have a salary of $90,000 or more -- 61 percent are white, 31 percent are African American, 4 percent are Hispanic or Latino and 3 percent are Asian.

The average salary for white exempt employees is $77,516, more than $10,000 above the average salary for Asians and African Americans in exempt positions. The average salary for Hispanic or Latinos in exempt positions was $61,638.

The city did not analyze the civil service workforce because it is awaiting the results of a Pew Foundation's study on the city's hiring and promotional practices for Civil Service employees.

The administration plans to have a representative from the office of Diversity and Inclusion meet quarterly with all commissioners and department heads to review diversity and inclusion progress, the report said. Each department will be asked to complete a diversity and inclusion plan that show how each department will assure that diversity is a priority in both pipeline and hiring.

Nolan N. Atkinson, Jr. Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, said that Thursday's report will be repeated each year to present to the public the city's workforce demographics for that year.

The full 2016 report can be found HERE.

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