By Alyssa Rosenberg arosenberg@govexec.com
July 22, 2008
The federal government is missing an opportunity by not reaching out more aggressively to people with disabilities to replace retiring employees, according to a report released on Monday by TMP Worldwide, a recruitment advertising firm.
"Public sector agencies lag seriously behind in recruiting and retaining people with disabilities," wrote report authors Mark Harvard and John Bersentes. "To call this result perplexing is -- at the least -- an understatement....Research has demonstrated that the typical individual with a disability is a more engaged, more loyal and more technologically adept employee than the average worker in the general population."
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found in 2006 that the number of disabled federal employees fell from 1.18 percent in 1996 to 0.94 percent 19 years later. Disabled employees often are not found in senior leadership positions: only 0.46 percent of the Senior Executive Service was disabled in 2006.
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0708/072208ar1.htm
