Long Beach : City’s Minority Hiring Up
The percentage of ethnic minorities and women in the city work force continued to increase last fiscal year, with Latino employment increasing the most, according to the city’s annual affirmative action report.
Despite gains, however, white males still hold a disproportionate share of the jobs, 52.2%, including nearly two-thirds of the best-paid positions.
Women, who make up 43% of the regional work force, held 26.4% of the 4,109 city jobs on June 30, compared with 25.9% a year before. Minority employment was up from 30% to 30.7%. About 61% of the 403 new hires were women or minorities.
Latinos, 22% of the two-county work force, held 8.5% of city jobs in June, compared to 7.6% a year before. The increase was the sharpest since 1973, when such records were first kept here.
Blacks, the report said, held 16.7% of all positions in city government, a drop of 0.4% from last year but still nearly double their 8.8% regional work-force representation.
Asians, 5.7% of the work force, held 4.9% of city jobs, the same as last year.
A 1985 city-commissioned study of Long Beach’s population said 56.7% was white, 18.4% Latino, 12.6% black and 10.2% Asian. Women make up 51%.
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