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CTV News
5 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Auditor general to study hiring, promotion of public servants with disabilities
OTTAWA — The federal auditor general is planning to study the recruitment, retention and promotion of people with disabilities in the federal public service. Documents obtained by The Canadian Press through Access to Information indicate that the audit is expected to be tabled in the spring. Claire Baudry, a spokesperson for the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, said in an email that while auditor general Karen Hogan expects to table the report in Parliament in 2026, the audit is in the planning phase and any comment on its scope or timelines now would be 'premature.' Hogan's office sent a letter to Secretary of the Treasury Board Bill Matthews on March 7 notifying him of the upcoming study. The most recent employment equity report for the public service says that since March 2020, the number of people with disabilities has increased steadily in the core public service — the federal government departments and agencies that fall under Treasury Board. But that number remains below the rate of 'workforce availability' — the metric used by the government to measure the share of the national workforce that is eligible for federal public service work. As of 2024, 21,089 people with disabilities were working in the federal public service, up from 17,410 in 2023, 14,573 in 2022 and 12,893 in 2021. The report also found that representation of people with disabilities among government executives was above the rate of workforce availability. As of March 2024, 9.7 per cent of federal executives were people with disabilities, up from 4.6 per cent in March 2019. The employment equity report also looked at promotions in the core public service. It found that 2,517 federal public servants with disabilities were promoted in 2024. The report also tracked 1,642 promotions of Indigenous public servants, 1,788 promotions of Black employees, 8,115 promotions of members of visible minorities and 19,578 promotions of women in the core public service. Nathan Prier, president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees, said he hopes the report will take into account the impact of the government's return-to-office mandate on people with disabilities. The government has gradually increased the number of days public servants must be in the office since the end of the pandemic. As of last fall, most public servants are expected to work in-office at least three days per week, while executives are required to be there at least four days per week. 'We hope to see from the report a snapshot before and after the forced return to office took place to see how many workers with disabilities are leaving the federal public sector and taking their expertise with them, while other workers struggle with increasing workload and now cuts — all when we had an easy and workable solution in front of us this whole time,' Prier said. 'During the pandemic we saw on a large scale how telework worked well for so many workers with disabilities, and we've been disappointed to see that, since the forced and mismanaged return to office, those same people have not been getting accommodations or have been made to jump through hoops in a long, drawn-out process,' he said. Rola Salem, a spokesperson for the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, said in an email that the Government of Canada has committed to building an accessible and inclusive public service and, in 2024, exceeded its goal of hiring 5,000 people with disabilities. Salem said the secretariat welcomes the opportunity to work with the Office of the Auditor General on the planned audit. The Employment Equity Act defines 'persons with disabilities' as people who have a long-term or recurring physical, mental, sensory, psychiatric or learning impairment and who consider themselves to be disadvantaged in employment or believe that an employer is likely to consider them disadvantaged. The definition also includes people whose limitations have been accommodated in the workplace. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2025. Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press
Business Insider
13-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Are you working for a zombie fund? If so, you'd better run!
Have you heard the news? A new contagion is turning formerly healthy private equity firms into the walking dead. It's not fungal, like in "The Last of Us," a virus, like in "28 Days Later," nor a magical reanimation like the original Haitian Vodou Zombis. Instead, it's the result of a dealmaking slump, pickier investors, and macroeconomic conditions that have turned some private-equity firms into glorified estate sales, auctioning off their dusty holdings before closing up shop. There are many definitions of a zombie fund — but no matter how you slice it, it can be bad for your career. To some, a zombie fund is one that's passed its investment deadline, but is still holding onto capital to invest. Others say it's a firm that can't raise new money and is stuck managing and selling off its current portfolio. Zombie fund can also refer to a fund that has invested capital but is delaying the process of returning money to investors while it continues to collect management fees. The phrase has picked up steam amid a multiyear lag in M&A and IPOs that has slowed private equity dealmaking and distributions to investors. Private markets data firm PitchBook said the number of US funds that haven't made an investment in a year, despite raising money in the last six years, is up 50% from 2021 to June 2025, to 651. Internationally, they're up 40% in the same period to 1203. We spoke to recruiters about the rise of the zombie funds and what that means for people working for them. Here is what they said. When to run Recruiters said employees, especially in certain roles, should start job-hunting at the first sign of zombification, though they warned that not every slowdown signals trouble. "If they are working at a firm that has no plans to fundraise for the foreseeable future, that is usually their sign to go straight to exploring the market," Jessica Xu, head of investor relations recruiting at Selby Jennings, told Business Insider. This is especially true for people in fundraising roles, where success means growing the firm's assets under management and building strong and deep relationships with investors. Bill Matthews, partner at BraddockMatthewsBarrett, said it's also true for people in investment roles because a zombie fund will drag down your investment track record. "Folks have to pick their head up and move," he said, adding, "On the investment side, you want to have a track record of doing deals and exiting deals, and if there's a zombie fund, that's not going to be the case." Of course, fundraising has slowed across the board and isn't necessarily a death knell. It's important to differentiate between a slowdown due to market conditions and one caused by dissatisfied investors. Just make sure you're keeping busy during the slowdown, said Lisa Steele, a partner at BraddockMatthewsBarrett. "You're maintaining relationships and keeping current LPs up to date, which is also critically important to these long-term partnerships," she said, referring to limited partners, the industry's catchphrase for fund investors. You should also be developing new relationships, which Steele said will prove "hugely valuable when you go back to market." How to interview A candidate running from a zombie fund may feel tempted to hide their current situation in a bid to make the candidacy more enticing. That would be a mistake, recruiters said. Matthews said hiring firms tend to know which of their peers are zombie funds from conversations with investors and other intermediaries. "It's important for candidates to be as transparent as possible with potential employers about their reasons for wanting to leave their current firm, and working at a zombie fund is an understandable reason," Xu said. The trick is to do it smartly. Recruiters warned against badmouthing the current employer or divulging confidential performance information. Focusing on personal gain is key, they said. "Many candidates in these situations feel constrained in their ability to drive growth and create meaningful value for their investors," said Xu, adding that they are "seeking environments where they can contribute more strategically." By focusing on how you'd benefit from moving to a better-performing fund, you come across as a good player on a bad team. And it's worth remembering that there are worse situations to be in. "A hiring firm's biggest fear is unknowingly hiring another firm's castoff," Matthews said. "A zombie fund situation is obviously a good and valid reason why someone would want to leave."
