OPM Progresses – Providing Federal Employment For Disabled People

October 22, 2015

COLA-LifeRingOPM Claims Progress in Providing Federal Employment For People With Disabilities

Back in 2010, President Obama called upon federal agencies and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to provide federal employment for 100,000 people with disabilities.

OPM Federal Employment Inforgraphic - People With Disabilities — Photo – opm.gov

OPM now says it’s made quite a bit of headway towards this goal. With a whole year of data still to come, the government hired 71,967 full-time permanent federal employees with disabilities in between 2011-2014.

Throw in part-time permanent employees, and the number increases to 80,469. If you factor in temporary employees, the total increases to 115,221.

All told, there were more people with disabilities in federal employment than at any time since the record-keeping began 34 years ago.

In the past year alone, the share of people with disabilities as a percentage of the federal workforce has risen from 12.8 percent to 13.6 percent. Oh, and these aren’t just token jobs. A full 16.4 percent of the new hires among people with disabilities were at the GS 14 and 15 levels.

OPM Director On Federal Employment Opportunities For People With Disabilities

Beth F. Cobert is the Acting Director at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

In a blog post on the OPM.gov website about the federal employment numbers for people with disabilities, Director Corbet said that “This important story is about more than numbers. By demonstrating our commitment to providing equal employment opportunities for Americans with disabilities, we are also tapping into a talent pool that enriches the 2-million strong Federal workforce.”

“We’re holding leaders accountable. We’re working with agencies and affinity groups to build mentoring programs, because we know how important great mentors are to fostering confidence and success. And, we are committed to working with agencies in an effort to provide people with disabilities the reasonable accommodations they need to do their jobs,” added Director Corbet.