5 Fallacies of Government? Series: Is the Retirement Wave Coming?

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Permalink Reply by GovLoop on October 21, 2009 at 8:05am

It may not be a retirement tsunamai but it'll at least be a long downpour.

I do believe that people will work longer in their jobs (but at least the 401k is bouncing back) so the tsunamai may not come quite as expected. At some point demographics come in and it is just undeniable that the average age of the government workforce is extremely high compared to private sector. And that government needs to do better at college/grad school recruiting.

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer D. Johnson on October 21, 2009 at 10:38am

I agree that we need to do a better job of recruiting recent graduates. I'm seeing some improvement in the contracting field, as we hire more and more interns every year. However, we still need to keep some experienced people around to help train them. My office has been trying to compensate for the lack of experienced people by holding in-house training sessions on various topics, and by investing in software tools to help with various procurement processes. It helps, but it's not the same as having experienced people around.

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Permalink Reply by Barbara Sanborn on October 21, 2009 at 3:56pm

The government also needs to do a better job with knowledge transfer. Many government employees retire and come back as consultants because they are the only ones who know the system and have not transferred that knowledge prior to retirement.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Radick on October 22, 2009 at 1:57pm

Great point Barbara - here's another area where the move to internal social networks like blogs and wikis can really benefit the government. They can help get all of that data out of their heads and onto a platform so that when they leave, there isn't this issue of "brain drain." Maybe a talent drain because you're losing a top performer, but there should no excuse for data loss because someone retired. Now, in doing this, you're also infringing on the time-honored tradition of "job security" - if you're the only one who knows how to do something, how are they going to fire you, right? If you put all of that data/knowledge/best practices onto a wiki, then anyone can do it and you'll be left without a job. We need to address these issues first before we can address the issues of knowledge transfer.

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Permalink Reply by Federal News Radio on October 21, 2009 at 2:01pm

Why do you think college students don't think about the government as a potential employer? Do you think that has to do with the lack of recruiting done in this arena by the government?

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Permalink Reply by Joshua joseph on October 22, 2009 at 12:09am

I think lack of recruiting plays into it, since many agencies had their HR staffs cut back pretty heavily over the past decade or two. Also, our work suggests that career services staff at colleges and universities often don't have the knowledge or tools to help students navigate the federal sector...beyond usajobs.gov That's a big barrier. The Partnership for Public Service, in collaboration with OPM, has several programs working to help address this through our Call to Serve effort.

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Permalink Reply by Heather Krasna, MS on October 22, 2009 at 1:01am

Hi there,
As a university career counselor for the last 11 years, director of career services at the Evans School of Public Affairs MPA program, and winner of the Call to Serve grant from the Partnership for Public Service to promote federal careers across the University of Washington campus, I can weigh in on why college students don't consider federal government.

1. The federal application process is totally different from the private sector one. Students have a hard enough time writing a one-page private sector resume; to ask them to fill in a USAJobs profile listing the name and phone number of each prior boss, plus salary they earned, plus their social security number, is totally foreign to them. In addition, college career counselors by and large are completely untrained in giving advice to students who want to apply for federal jobs. I can say for myself that I was a career counselor for 8 years or so before I actually saw a federal resume, and I was STUNNED that it had a social security number, employer phone number etc. on it.

2. Federal agencies take a very long time to hire compared to private sector or even local or state government. Students just can't/won't wait that long.

3. Students are afraid that federal agencies will run drug tests or credit checks as part of the background check process/security clearance.

4. Many federal agencies have trouble "selling" their mission. Classic example: Social Security Admin is always hiring people, but their claims processor jobs are not sexy enough for most students; plus students don't see how important the mission is because they have been told Social Security won't exist for them when they retire. But these are great entry-level jobs.
Students just don't want to start at that ground level, and unless the agency can entice them by inspiring them with their mission, they won't be interested.

5. The benefits offered by federal agencies are excellent selling points for more established, older adults who understand the value of good health insurance, job security, or a retirement plan. Younger students mainly look at paychecks (or maybe the mission of the job).

6. For years, there's been a general negative view of government. Unfortunately, this still exists today, and many students who want to "change the world" only think they can do it in a nonprofit organization. This is changing with the new administration, though.

7. The best entry programs for students (STEP, SCEP, FCIP, PMF etc.) are seriously under-marketed by short-staffed HR staffs, and the obscure alphabet soup of misleading acronyms doesn't help. For instance, Federal Career Intern Program is a full time job, not an internship. This is totally misleading and leads some students not to apply.

Anyway, federal agencies have a ways to go to fix these items. We are all doing our best at colleges that are part of the Call to Serve/Partnership for Public Service efforts, and there are lots of students who are really excited to be federal--so there's lots of hope!

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Drewniak on October 22, 2009 at 9:29am

Heather's response is dead on. Time plays a critical factor, and federal areas with which I am familiar (DoD) do not have the manpower a/o capacity to connect to college recruiters. College students eschew the federal government because feedback loops and the government appraisal/review processes are vague to non-existent. Also, students are turned off by the concept of regulated raises, and view them as a hindrance to promotion and advancement.

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Permalink Reply by Emily Hamlin on October 22, 2009 at 1:45pm

As a recent MPA grad, I agree that time plays a critical role in employment for the next generation. I've been searching for a position (federal, state or city) in Phoenix for the last 8 months, but because I need an income, I've recently decided to include private companies in my search.
I want to work for government and make the world a better place - but I can't hold out much longer for my ideal job. Government needs to improve their hiring process - or they will lose the next generation.

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Permalink Reply by Joshua joseph on November 20, 2009 at 12:19am

Heather, this is just a great summary of key challenges. Apologies for the super long delay in getting back - I actually forgot to click the follow button after posting and didn't know you'd responded (wish the default was set to automatically follow a conversation after posting a comment, with a way to opt-out if desired). Like your optimism! Call to Serve is terrific program and the grants piece is one of the gems. Will definitely pass this on to my colleagues. Thanks, josh

p.s. Emily, I know there are some major efforts underway by OPM in particular to help streamline key pieces of the hiring process. It's a big ship they're trying to turn, so don't know how fast it will be but they have the right attitude. Fingers crossed that we'll see some real impacts in the next year.

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Permalink Reply by Geoff Hunt on October 22, 2009 at 9:33am

I started to work for a large municipality in October 2000. At that time, I was told that "in 5 years, there would be a whole bunch of retirements."

9 years later, and I'm still being told: "in 5 years...."

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Permalink Reply by William A. Ballweber on October 22, 2009 at 9:35am

For (almost) everyone who has grey, greying of hidden grey (dyed) hair that rides my commute train into/out of DC, the question isn't whether you are retiring soon, it's just "how soon." I know of only one grey-haired guy (who qualifies for regular retirement in two yrs) who says he's going to stick it out for longer than 3 more years.

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