New hires consistent with citywide demographics for the first time since the Controller’s Office conducted review.
For immediate release: Tuesday, December 20, 2022
Contact: Jolene Nieves Byzon, 215-300-1071
Philadelphia, PA – The Office of the City Controller released its annual review of the diversity of the City of Philadelphia’s exempt workforce in fiscal year 2021 (FY21). The review assessed departmental diversity for the City’s more than 4,700 exempt employees, including new hires and new hires with salaries of at least $90,000. The data breaks down exempt employees by department and race/ethnicity and shows the department’s representation compared to the city’s demographic breakdown according to Census data. Data was examined separately for City departments that fall under the Mayor’s authority and for independent offices.
“For the first time in the four years since the Controller’s Office has been conducting this diversity review, new hires are consistent with citywide demographics. This progress is significant and a positive step in the right direction toward a workforce that mirrors Philadelphia’s population,” said Acting City Controller Christy Brady. “While the city’s exempt workforce is not yet representative of Philadelphia’s population, there has been over the last few years.”
Using Census data as a benchmark, Philadelphia’s population is about 67.0% diverse (Black or African American: 38.6%; Hispanic: 15.9%; Asian: 7.5%; Other: 5.0%). The review found that across all departments and independent offices, the racial and ethnic breakdown of the City’s exempt workforce is not representative of Philadelphia’s total population, however representation has improved overall. Diverse employees accounted for 47.3% of the overall exempt workforce in FY21, an improvement from FY20’s exempt workforce diversity (45.8%).
The diversity of new exempt hires improved significantly in FY21, resulting in new exempt hires being in line with citywide census demographics. This is the first time since the diversity review has been conducted that new hires were in line with citywide census demographics. Diverse groups made up 71.0% of new exempt hires in FY21 compared to FY20 when diverse employees made up only 58.3% of new hires. New executive hires, however, continued to be less diverse than new hires overall, although new executive hires improved compared to prior years. Diverse representation among new executive hires increased to 56.2% in FY21 as compared to 40.0% in FY20.
Of note, Hispanic employees made up 12.5% of new executive hires in FY21 in departments under the mayor’s authority, a considerable improvement compared to FY20 when departments under the mayor’s authority did not hire any Hispanic employees for executive positions.
Due to hiring freezes and attrition in FY21, the City’s exempt workforce decreased (-109 employees), and there were fewer new hires (-181) compared to FY20.
View the interactive diversity review here.