Federal Personnel: The EEO Implications of Reductions-In-Force
(Testimony, 02/01/94, GAO/T-GGD-94-87).

In a recent review of reductions-in-force (RIF) at three Defense
Department installations, GAO discovered that the RIFs caused a
disproportionate number of women and minorities to lose their jobs.  In
some cases, this was because women and minorities lacked the tenure,
veterans' preference, or performance-adjusted seniority of nonminorities
or men.  In other cases, minorities held a large number of the jobs
being abolished and they lacked assignment rights to other positions.
Continuing RIFs may undermine the gains made by women and minorities in
the workforce, particularly at the mid and higher levels.  On the other
hand, downsizing alternatives that encourage voluntary retirements and
resignations may prompt larger numbers of white males to leave on their
own initiative, a trend that could improve the overall diversity of the
smaller workforce.  This was the case during GAO's own recent workforce
reduction, which included a special cash separation incentive.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  T-GGD-94-87
     TITLE:  Federal Personnel: The EEO Implications of 
             Reductions-In-Force
      DATE:  02/01/94
   SUBJECT:  Reductions in force
             Minorities
             Women
             Labor statistics
             Fair employment programs
             Employment of minorities
             Personnel management
             Employee incentives
             Civilian employees
             Personnel evaluation systems
IDENTIFIER:  National Performance Review
             
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