AGENDA #5a
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TO: |
Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager |
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FROM: |
Pam Eastwood, Human Resources Director |
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SUBJECT: |
Report on Employee/Supervisor Demographics |
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DATE: |
January 22, 2007 |
The purpose of this report is to provide information on the demographics of Town employees, Town supervisors and census data for the surrounding recruitment area.
In April 2002, the Council discussed the goal of increasing the number of minority supervisors in Town jobs. The Human Resources Department prepared a report for the Council on the make-up of the Town’s workforce over the past several years, including information about the number of minority employees occupying supervisory positions. The Council received this report in November 2002 and discussed it during the Council retreat in January 2003. A Council member asked that the report be submitted annually.
The materials attached provide information about the Town’s employee group organized by race and gender. The information is based on November 2006 employment and is presented both in summary and for the four largest departments: Fire, Police, Public Works and Transportation.
The data on supervisory positions has been gathered with assistance from department heads. The definition of supervisor used is: “a position which has a significant level of authority in the hiring, training, evaluation, disciplinary actions and recommending for termination over one or more other regular positions.” This definition is consistent with the commonly understood meaning of the term.
Information about the Town’s workforce was compared to the race and gender distribution of the Town’s primary recruitment area by use of census data for individuals aged 18 to 65 (defined as normal working years). The primary recruitment area includes Orange County and four contiguous counties: Alamance, Chatham, Durham and Wake. This area was selected based on the distribution of the majority of the Town’s current employees and also reflects reasonable commuting distance. The recruitment area demographics cited are gathered from the State Demographics Unit and Year 2000 Census data.
The Town’s minority and female supervisory representation has remained relatively unchanged since the last report. The current rates are 28 percent (chart 3, page 7) and 30 percent (chart 4, page 8) respectively. Data from previous years reflect: 29 percent and 29 percent in 2004, 30 percent and 30 percent in 2003, and 31 percent and 32 percent in 2002. This reflects the actions of the Council during these three budget years in adding a small number of non-supervisory positions to the Town workforce. As part of normal attrition, the Town experienced some retirements and resignations; these were offset by hires and promotions. The supervisory rate for black employees was 29 percent for both 2002 and 2003, 27 percent for 2004, 28 percent for 2005, and is 26 percent for 2006. The statistics on which the following discussion is based are found in the attachments to this report which contain details and graphs for each element presented below.
In the five-county recruitment area, race demographics vary significantly. The titles and definitions of the race categories are as defined by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of the Federal government. The white population ranges from 67 percent in Durham County to 81 percent in Orange County. The black population ranges from 16 percent in Orange County to 37 percent in Durham County. The Other category (includes: American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, and Hispanic persons) falls within a one percent to three percent range for the region. The demographic distribution for the five-county region is: white population 74 percent, black population 24 percent and other population two percent.
The Town employee group is 58 percent white, 38 percent black and four percent other. This demonstrates greater diversity than the population of the surrounding region. The Town black employee population is proportionately larger than the black population living in the region. Black citizens represent 24 percent of the local area as compared to a 38 percent representation in Town employment. For the Town supervisory group, the data indicates that 72 percent are white, 26 percent are black and two percent are other. This is similar to the population demographics of the region.
The number of black employees in the Town is 258; of that group, 36 are supervisors. The number of white employees in the Town is 388, of that group, 99 are supervisors. The number of employees of other races in the Town is 25; of that group, three are supervisors.
In the four largest departments in the Town, there are demographic variations among employees and supervisors, especially in those occupational groups such as Fire and Police. Details are presented below with graphic representation of these figures shown on the charts attached.
In the five county recruitment area, females represent 52 percent of the population. In Town employment, females represent 30 percent of the workforce and hold 30 percent of all supervisory positions. This is similar to last year’s reporting activity.
Of 16 departments in the Town, six are headed by females, representing 38 percent of all director positions. In the four largest departments, the rate of female supervisors meets or exceeds the rate of their total department representation with the exception of the Police and Transportation Departments.
The Fire Department non-supervisory group is 78 percent white, 20 percent black and two percent other. The supervisory group is 32 percent of the whole and is 77 percent white, 19 percent black and four percent other. This reflects a four percent increase in the other category.
The employee group is 90 percent male and 10 percent female. The supervisor group is 85 percent male and 15 percent female. There is a three percent decrease in males and three percent increase in female supervisors.
The Police Department non-supervisory group is 82 percent white, 17 percent black and one percent other. There is a three percent increase in white, three percent decrease in black, and no change with other in the non-supervisory group. The supervisory group, which is 25 percent of the whole, is 76 percent white and 24 percent black.
The employee group is 73 percent male and 27 percent female. The supervisor group is 79 percent male and 21 percent female.
The Public Works Department non-supervisory group is 34 percent white, 61 percent black and five percent other. Supervisory positions represent 16 percent of the whole. The supervisory group is 78 percent white and 22 percent black.
The small number of female employees (five percent of the department) is located primarily in the office and administrative functions of the department. The supervisory group is 89 percent male and 11 percent female.
The Transportation Department non-supervisory group is 33 percent white, 62 percent black and five percent other. The supervisory group is eight percent of the whole and is 50 percent white (a 14 percent increase from the last report), 50 percent black (a 14 percent decrease).
The employee group is 69 percent male and 31 percent female. The supervisory group is 71 percent male and 29 percent female.
The Town employee group exhibits a greater degree of diversity and racial balance than the working-age population of the five-county recruitment area. There is variation among and within departments in terms of demographics of employee and supervisory groups.
The specific reasons for the variations among departments can be attributed to a number of variables including job characteristics, applicant preferences, training and experience requirements for specific positions and other elements.
Job applicants make choices in terms of job interest, physical demands, preferred work schedules and other working conditions, the turnover rate for each type of work. These decisions serve as constraints which prevent an absolute balance between population demographics and demographics of Town employees. The rate of change among demographics of Town employees is likely to be very small over time, based on the Town’s low turnover rate for all jobs and among supervisors.