Women-owned businesses can now count another victory as the federal government has reached its goal of awarding five percent of the money spent on contractors to businesses owned by women. The government defines a women-owned businesses as those that are at least 51 percent controlled by women. In 1994, the federal government set a goal of awarding five percent of the money it spent on contractors to businesses owned by women (www.nytimes.com). Twenty-two years later, the federal government has for the first time finally met its goal.

According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), small businesses earned nearly 29 percent or $90.7 billion of the government’s contracting dollars during the 2015 fiscal year, which ended on September 30th, 2015. Out of that $90.7 billion earned by small businesses, women-owned businesses captured nearly $18 billion of those dollars. The government set this goal as companies owned by women tend to be younger and smaller than other businesses. Although women-owned businesses may be young and fewer in number, analysis by the department of commerce shows that women-owned business are indeed 21 percent less likely to be awarded government contracts than small businesses that are not women-owned.

The infographic below explains the growth and importance of women-owned businesses in America:

This goal was achieved mostly as a result of rules that were implemented by the government five years ago in 2011, which mandated that agencies set aside specific contracts allowing bids from only women-owned businesses as well as rules making them eligible for no-bid contracts—ultimately permitting women-owned businesses to not only gain experience, but to also provide them with the past performance necessary to win other competitive projects. Another reason why the government was able to meet its goal can be attributed to the Small Business Administration, which increased its outreach efforts over the past several years to teach women entrepreneurs about federal procurement opportunities—guiding them through the often complex process of preparing bids. Maria Contreras-Sweet, the 24th Administrator of the Small Business Administration, also made the recent achievement a top priority.

While five percent may seem like a small number, it is a significant achievement for women in the federal marketplace who have long been underrepresented. With this milestone, Washington has shown all Americans that if the government is determined enough, it can produce positive and impactful outcomes.

 

 

For the general public, identity theft, online security, and credit card fraud are an ever increasing concern in the technology age in which we live. But what about the federal government? Most people may think the government is impenetrable to cyber threats, hackers, and security breaches, but this is far from true. In fact, hackers are now probing the deepest layers of every federal government agency according to the Department of Homeland Security. The good news is that the cyber intruders are from the Department of Homeland Security. That’s right, DHS is conducting exercises to test vulnerabilities in federal computer systems that contain sensitive data, which are also prime targets for legitimately malicious hackers.

The strategy is part of the greater Cybersecurity National Action Plan (CNAP), a plan proposed by President Obama that takes near-term actions and puts in place a long-term strategy to increase cybersecurity awareness and protections, protect privacy, maintain public safety as well as economic and national security and empower Americans to have more control of their digital security (www.whitehouse.gov).

When we think about how much of our personal information is stored online (e-mail, bank information, online stores, bill payment information, etc.), it’s important to remember that going paperless gives experienced hackers more ease of access to our digitized information especially when operating on unprotected networks or repeatedly using weak or multiple identical passwords. The infographic below explains how hackers think and what little regard they can have when it comes to stealing digital information.

After the 2015 breach of information from the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) system wherein the information of 21.5 million United States national security professionals and their families’ information was exposed, the Department of Homeland Security devised a civilian agency cybersecurity strategy as a part of the Cybersecurity National Action Plan. The agency’s utilization of the abovementioned authorized hacking comes as federal government agencies are taking stock of information technology tools and databases that would ultimately send the government into disarray if these tools and databases become compromised (www.nextgov.com).

Although this is not President Obama’s first endeavor to protect the United States against cybercrime, the plan does symbolize Obama’s last effort to ensure progress in an ongoing effort to strengthen the nation’s online security. Since 2010, $73 billion has been spent to protect the nation against organized cybercrime, but the President’s most recent plan will request an additional $19 billion in funding to support cybersecurity activities, which include a commission on enhancing national cybersecurity, public service campaigns, and funds for replacing antiquated, unsecure government information technology.

Just ten years ago, the idea of spending billions on the nations’ digital safety would have been unthinkable, but in 2016 and beyond, the concept of creating multibillion-dollar information technology systems and security is all too real. According to nextgov.com, designing new and more secure systems is an imperative as the latest high-profile hack of a Justice Department computer system leaked the contact information of 9,000 Department of Homeland Security personnel as well as 20,000 Federal Bureau of Investigation employees. With that being said, there is still much work to be done as adversaries of the United States are quickly learning that it may be easier to attack the nations’ cyber networks in both the public and private sector than it is to attack tangible areas.

As the President stated on Tuesday, 9 February 2016, “More and more, keeping America safe is not just a matter of more tanks, more aircraft carriers; not just a matter of bolstering our security on the ground. “It also requires us to bolster our security online” (www.nextgov.com). Obama’s plan allows the Federal Government to acquire new information now and lays forward the conditions necessary for long-term progression in the government’s approach to protecting the cybersecurity of the Federal Government, the private sector, and in personal lives (Fact Sheet: Cybersecurity National Action Plan). Thus, President Obama’s cybersecurity plan is designed not only to protect the government and individual citizens, but to also protect the companies that store vast amounts of sensitive data belonging to the general American public.

 

 

If you have ever been curious about whether or not your salary is the same, less, or more than your co-worker who performs the same job duties as your own, you are not alone. In fact, pay inequality is still a huge issue in America with women—especially minority women—experiencing the greatest disparities in wages and benefits. In light of this pay disparity, the federal government is taking the necessary steps to mitigate this long standing wage gap issue.

Indeed, as of Friday, 29 January 2016, President Barack Obama announced an executive action that would mandate companies with over 100 employees or more to report to the federal government how much they pay their employees broken down by race, gender, and ethnicity (www.govexec.com). In 2009, President Obama signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which allows employees to file lawsuits concerning equal pay for up to six months after a discriminatory paycheck. President Obama’s latest legislation—the Paycheck Fairness Act—concurs with the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and is being simultaneously published by the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Department of Labor (www.govexec.com).

In 2016, Caucasian women are paid 77 cents for every dollar paid to men on average, while African-American and Hispanic women earn only 64 cents and 55 cents, respectively, for every dollar paid to men on average. For women, the gender pay gap reduces the amount of lifetime earnings and also affects their pensions, which is a substantial reason for the impoverishment of women in their later lives (Gender Pay Gap and the Struggle for Equal Pay). Furthermore, unequal pay based on gender is problematic because women who work full-time, year round in the United States earn $10,876 less per year in median earnings—an economic imbalance for women and their families.

On Friday, 5 February 2016, President will call on Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act. If passed, the Paycheck Fairness Act will establish an essential foundation for progress toward realizing equal pay, as well as encouraging and fostering greater voluntary compliance by employers with existing federal pay laws, including the evaluation of how they are currently paying their employees (www.whitehouse.gov).

Although research explains there has been a lack of progress in closing the pay gap due to the fact that neither men nor women have seen a meaningful increase in median earnings since 2009, unequal pay in the workplace is unacceptable. If employers truly want to level the playing field, being more transparent about pay and compensation is necessary to acknowledge this longstanding issue. The infographic below provides an analysis about why the Paycheck Fairness act is so important for advancing equality in the workplace.

The Paycheck Fairness Act can be seen as a pragmatic measure to ensure that women are paid the same amount as their male counterparts. For now, the federal government is taking steps in the right direction to eliminate the gender pay gap, but for now, the private sector can do its part by disclosing their gender pay gaps as an initial effort to close them.

When it comes to employment and the laws of supply and demand, job seekers will always be hopeful for a large supply of jobs that equally demand their labor. So, for those who are currently searching for work it comes as exciting news that there are currently an abundance of job vacancies around the globe. According to govexec.com, job vacancies in dozens of countries are plentiful. In the United States alone, there were 5.4 million jobs in in 2015—the highest number of unfilled jobs in 15 years (www.govexec.com). Furthermore, countries like Germany, Canada, India and the United Kingdom are attracting more workers than they lose—an indication of a healthy, growing economy.

Although it may be true that there are an abundance of jobs worldwide, companies are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit qualified prospective candidates, especially in technology-related job positions. This mismatch is unfortunate for employers because they are being forced to recruit workers from abroad, where the availability of both experienced and talented workers are more expansive. However, this poses a problem for countries where there are a greater number of citizens leaving than there are citizens entering.

The infographic below explains what qualities job seekers should have in order to be seen as an asset to employers:

Although this infographic does not contain a definitive list of qualities that employers may find desirable, it does highlight some of the most important qualities that a worker should strive to embody as a job seeker. Within the labor market, employers are trying to hire people with familiar qualities and abilities, but this lack of candidate diversity can lead to a decrease in a country’s supply of talent, which can ultimately result in stunted growth and prosperity. While the United States and European countries attract more workers than they lose, countries like China, Israel and Sweden are experiencing just the opposite because employers in these countries largely fail to gain the interest of job seekers and thus, their subsequent relocation.

Therefore, both employers and employees should seek ways to stand out amongst the crowd in ways that are appealing to the masses, yet specific enough to add value to a particular career sector. If countries wish to flourish economically, they should hold on tightly to valuable employees and encourage employers to find ways to improve their desirability to job seeking citizens who may be looking to find employment abroad.

As the American population ages, the workplace is transforming in more ways than one. Those belonging to the baby boomer generation have been working all of their adult lives, but are now either retired or nearing retirement. Among the current generation of working baby boomers, one worry stands out more than most: the idea that retirement will not occur by age 65. Fortunately, baby boomers—those born between the years of 1946 and 1965—need not fret because according to govexec.com, this is not a reality. Indeed, by age 68, only 16 percent of baby boomers will be working full-time jobs while millennials will make-up 75 percent of the workforce by 2026 (www.govexec.com).

In preparation for the career world, millennials are obtaining college degrees and rapidly entering the workforce just in time for baby boomers to make their mass exodus out of the workforce. This is good news for both baby boomers and millennials because as baby boomers are reaching retirement, millennials are more than ready to begin building careers and step into vacant leadership positions once held by their parents and grandparents.

While millennials are eager to become career women and men, 24 percent of millennials feel as though their formal education has not prepared them for leadership roles in the workplace, which will be both a challenge and an opportunity for employers. Although employers will face the burden of having to train millennials to become leaders, employers may gain a competitive advantage because companies that can establish millennials as leaders should grow faster and more profitably than those that are more reluctant to place millennials in leadership positions (www.govexec.com).

As the above infographic shows, the millennial generation is relatively unconventional compared to the generation X and baby boomer generations because millennials have come of age during a period of major technological innovations and economic fluctuations in a globalizing world. As a result, millennials have adopted a set of different behaviors and have experiences unlike their parents. In the workplace, these behaviors and experiences are expected to produce new leadership styles and work environments. In fact, millennials are expected to cultivate greater employee engagement and retention benefits because they place a high value on mentors, leadership, and highly prioritize learning new things, which will make a huge impact in organizational success during this generational career transition (www.govexec.com).

The millennial generation is the biggest in United States history; boasting a population of 92 million young adults (www.goldmansachs.com). If companies want to succeed, it looks as though they will have to put great emphasis on leadership development programs, digital and technological training, employee empowerment, transparency and objectivity in performance criteria, and goal-oriented work.

Baby boomers will not be working forever and organizations will need millennials to dominate their industries by motivating excellence in others to foster and achieve long-term business success. After all, this is the millennial’s world and we are all just living in it.