There is a large Gap between New Britain municipality employee diversity and the diversity of the City’s Population

According to WalletHub report New Britain has the 30th most diverse population among all cities in the United States. The diversity measure includes ethnic diversity, ethno-racial diversity, linguistic diversity, and birthplace diversity. Within these categories, New Britain stands out as 12th in the nation in language diversity (https://wallethub.com/edu/cities-with-the-most-and-least-ethno-racial-and-linguistic-diversity/10264).

According to the census, New Britain’s racial/ethnic diversity is comprised of 37.9% non-Hispanic Whites, 44.3% Hispanics or Latino, 13.3% black or African American, and 2.7% Asian. Furthermore, about 20% of the population is foreign born and 49% of the New Britain households speak a language other than English. Also 51% of the workforce is female. (https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/newbritaincityconnecticut).

Does the diversity of the employees of the City of New Britain reflect the diversity of the city as a whole?

Examining the City of New Britain Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Workforce Data Reports 2017-2022 shows a very different picture. While white non-Hispanic population in the New Britain is only 38%, the municipal percent is twice – over 70%. Conversely, while minority residents make up about 60% of the city, the municipality employees make up about half of that – at about 28%. While the percent of the female workforce is higher at about 20% it’s still 2.5 time smaller than the percent of the female workforce in the city (51%).

Examining which municipal departments have the most impact on the make-up of the workforce of the city, it is significant to single out two departments – the Fire department and the Police department. The Fire department makes up about 120 employees out of about 560 city employees for about 21% and the police has about 170 employees comprising 30% of the municipal workforce. Together these departments make up 50% of the city workforce. The gender make up of both departments, as one would predict, is overwhelming white and male – the police department is made of 85% male and 68% are white males. Conversely, there is only 24% minority police employees with only 4 black and 5 Hispanic/Latino females. The Fire department employee make up is even less diverse with 94% male (!) and 71% white males. While there about 23% minority fire fighters, there are no Hispanic/Latina female fire fighters and only one black female.

While the minority make of the city employees increased by 3% since 2019 the percent of females has not changed. The city with the leadership of the mayor needs to have a major campaign to attract and retain a more diverse employee workforce – especially within the large white-male dominated departments of police and fire. A more diverse municipal workforce might become more attuned to the needs of its residents.