U.S. Office of Personnel Management regulations effective May 11 will give federal

agencies more hiring flexibility.

Under the new regulations, students who have interned at federal agencies will get credit for  320 hours to go toward the 640 hours required from the OPM’s Student Career Education Program.

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities placed more than 600 students in 22   federal agencies and nine corporations in 2005 through its national internship program.

“We hope that (federal) agencies will take advantage of these new flexibilities to address the under-representation of Hispanics, especially in light of the upcoming wave of retirements,” said HACU assistant vice president William Gil.

In the next five years, half of current federal employees will be of retirement age, he said, offering a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Latinos to fill these jobs.

Gilbert Sandate, director of workforce diversity at the U.S. Library of Congress, noted Latinos hold 7.4% or roughly 155,400 of the federal jobs even though they make up 12.5% of the civilian work force. Latinos need to fill 90,000 more jobs to reach parity in the federal workforce.

“This is exactly the type of institutional change that is needed to dig us out of the huge hole we are in,” Sandate added.

Next week the National Association of Hispanic Federal Executives will discuss how to use the new regulations to increase the number of Latinos in federal jobs, according to its president, José Osegueda.

provided by ~ Hispanic Link Weekly Report Vol. 24, No. 19, May 8, 2006

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