Breaking down the state workforce

The average state worker, if such a person existed, would be white, 47, and making $50,304 a year, but would have had no raise in the last three years.

She or he – it’s almost a tossup, with 50.6 percent of state workers being women and 49.4 percent men – would have been working for the state for 12 years, have a full-time position and be in a union. More likely than not, she or he works for Social and Health Services, Corrections or Transportation, the three departments that employ more than half the government workforce.

Chances of …

The average state worker, if such a person existed, would be white, 47, and making $50,304 a year, but would have had no raise in the last three years.

She or he – it’s almost a tossup, with 50.6 percent of state workers being women and 49.4 percent men – would have been working for the state for 12 years, have a full-time position and be in a union. More likely than not, she or he works for Social and Health Services, Corrections or Transportation, the three departments that employ more than half the government workforce.

Chances of being a minority: slightly less than 1 in 5.

Chances of having a disability: about 1 in 33.

Those are some of the figures released this week in the annual Work Force Data and Trends report from the state’s human resources office.

Those figures also show that state government workforce is older than the civilian workforce in the rest of the state and the country. Only 3 percent are under 20, compared with 12 percent nationally and statewide; nearly a third are 55 and older, compared with about 1 in 5 nationally and statewide.

To see even more details on the state government workforce, go to http://hr.wa.gov and click on Workforce Data & Planning tab.