PHILADELPHIA – Today, the City of Philadelphia, through its Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI), launched a Workforce Diversity Dashboard, the City’s latest efforts to improve the representation of people of color, women, and members of marginalized groups. The dashboard showcases diversity trends in the City’s workforce by race, ethnicity, and gender, and will be shared publicly on a monthly basis to further enhance government transparency.
“Since day one this administration has been committed to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion,” said Mayor Jim Kenney. “Part of that commitment includes building a representative City workforce – one that mirrors Philadelphia’s diverse communities. The Workforce Diversity Dashboard not only reflects the City’s strategy of using data to inform our priorities, but it builds on the transparency that will be essential to the longevity of our diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.”
The dashboard improves and expands reporting currently conducted by the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion through its annual workforce diversity profile reports. Like the reports, the dashboard provides an in-depth examination of the racial, ethnic, and gender composition of the City’s full-time, permanent workforce and excludes information from the City Commissioners, the City Controller’s Office, City Council, the District Attorney’s Office, the First Judicial District, the Register of Wills, and the Sheriff’s Office.
“The dashboard adds a deeper layer of analysis to our understanding of the City’s workforce and will serve as a valuable tool for City leaders and members of the public who want to understand where there is room for improvement and where the City is making progress in its diversity efforts,” said Josie B. H. Pickens, Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer. “Where the profile report provides a static look at the performance of the City’s workforce at the end of each fiscal year, the dashboard is a living tool that provides a monthly and ongoing snapshot of the City of Philadelphia’s workforce diversity. People can use the dashboard to understand the City’s workforce composition over time or to drill down on the performance of individual departments.”
The dashboard was made possible through the collaboration of ODEI, CityGeo—a team within the City’s Office of Innovation and Technology that helps departments share data used for mapping, analysis, and city services—and the City’s Office of Human Resources. CityGeo designed the Workforce Diversity Dashboard and added features to improve the user experience and usefulness of the tool.
“The dashboard is a great example of how IT teams can support their organizational DEI efforts and ensure that the public is part of it,” praises Mark Wheeler, Chief Information Officer of the Office of Innovation and Technology.
“The goal was to create a tool that is accessible, helpful, and engaging for members of the public and enhances transparency for anyone interested in the results of the City’s efforts to promote diversity among the city’s workforce,” said Charlotte Shade, Lead GIS Analyst at CityGeo and designer of the dashboard. “For example, if you want to know what zip codes or City Council districts City employees live in or whether a particular department employs residents from certain zip codes, you can use this dashboard to find those answers.”
“We routinely assess diversity within the City workforce and how we can impact positions where there is underrepresentation,” said Michael Zaccagni, Director of the City’s Office of Human Resources. “We welcome the transparency that the workforce diversity dashboard provides and the broader attention it will bring to this important issue.”
The City’s Workforce Diversity Dashboard will be live as of today, January 12, 2023. Dashboard data on current employees, new hires, and separated employees will update on the first of each month, and data on employee age, zip code, and salary will update on July 1 of each year.