The percentage of employees and management who identify as having a disability shows how well the City is doing with attracting, hiring, promoting and retaining employees with diverse abilities. Portlanders want to know whether the ability diversity of City employees and employees in supervisory positions reflects the diversity of the communities they serve. Knowing these percentages helps leaders to monitor changes over time, continue outreach to applicants with disabilities, and strive to create a welcoming, safe, comfortable and accessible culture for City employees of all abilities.

The Citywide Disability Equity Goals passed by City Council in 2020 state that hiring and promotions of people experiencing disabilities will be fair. As a federal contractor, the City is required to develop a written annual Affirmative Action Plan for people with disabilities. The City tracks the disability status of its employees as part of monitoring the City’s progress on disability employment and to fulfill its affirmative action reporting obligations.

The percentage of City non-casual and casual employees and management who self-identify as having a disability has generally increased over the last six years. Casual positions are those that occur, end, and recur periodically or regularly.

The percentages of managers and supervisors who identify as having a disability can be compared to the percentage of non-casual employees who identify similarly to determine whether managers and supervisors are representative of the ability diversity of the employees they supervise. In FY 2024-25, the percentage of managers and supervisors who self-identify as having a disability (8.7%) is within 1.6 percentage points of the percentage of non-casual employees who self-identify as having a disability (10.3%).

Hires into supervisory positions are a combination of external hires and internal promotions. Externally, the Bureau of Human Resources’ Recruitment team engages in activities such as career fairs, community events, and information sessions that are intended to reach diverse communities, including people with disabilities. Job applicants may request a reasonable ADA accommodation to apply for a City job and/or if selected for an interview or skills evaluation test. Employees with disabilities can request a reasonable accommodation to apply/interview for promotional opportunities and/or a reasonable accommodation to perform their work.

Being able to interact with a workforce with diverse abilities has a positive impact on Portlanders who have experienced disabilities who may be more likely to envision themselves as future City workers. Supervisory employees who have self-identified as having a disability provide mentorship to non-supervisory employees with disabilities who aspire to attain leadership positions in the future. Providing opportunities for people with disabilities in the City’s workforce fosters a more diverse and inclusive environment and brings unique perspectives and skills to the workplace.

A person with a disability may currently have a disability or have a history or record of having a disability. A disability is a physical, mental, or medical condition that substantially limits a major life activity. Under federal law, a person is also considered to have a disability if they have a history or record of such a condition.

The data source for this metric is the City’s Human Capital Management system, SAP. The Bureau of Human Resources (BHR) is responsible for this data.

During onboarding, employees are offered the opportunity to self-identify as a person with a disability, and that data is stored in SAP. In 2023, BHR conducted a Workforce Census that asked City employees about their demographics, including disability status. This information was used to update employee records. As of July 1, 2025, over 74% of active employees had self-identified their disability status.

Employees and management are included in this metric as having a disability if they were active on the last day of the fiscal year and self-identified as having a disability.

The Bureau of Human Resources maintains an interactive Workforce Demographics Dashboard that shows the percentage of employees who identify as having a disability, along with other demographic data.

The Workforce Demographics Dashboard, along with other BHR data, can be accessed from the Open Data and Analytics page of the BHR website.