Federal Hiring Trends

The profile of our federal workforce is being shaped by external events, policy decisions made by our political leaders, the nation’s changing demographics and the growing need for professional and administrative employees.

Many outside factors that have been affecting the composition of our federal government include the increased homeland security requirements stemming from the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the growing demands of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, health care needs of veterans and the demands from financial crisis.

At the same time, the aging of the baby boom generation is having a dual impact on the workforce. It is estimated that 240,000 federal employees will retire and need to be replaced between 2008 and 2012, while our government simultaneously will require additional help at agencies like the Social Security Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to handle benefit claims and provide services for the growing senior population.

Technological changes and the increasingly complex challenges faced by our government also are influencing federal employment needs, with a bigger emphasis being placed on jobs in professional and administrative occupations. This means a continuing decline in opportunities for blue collar and clerical workers, and a heightened interest in talented engineers, information technology specialists, intelligence analysts, contacting officers, program managers, accountants, auditors, nurses, doctors and lawyers.

There are more than 100 agencies and organizations in our federal government, but about 60 percent of the civilian workforce is employed at three large Cabinet Departments—the Department of Defense (DOD), the VA and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The biggest demand for new mission-critical employees is in the medical and public health fields, with federal agencies estimating that they need to fill 54,114 mission-critical positions by the end of 2012. This hiring is dominated by the VA and DOD, both of which are feeling the strain and effects from two ongoing wars.

The DOD continues to be our government’s largest employer, and has many additional critical needs besides health care including acquisition and contract specialists, language specialists, engineers, information technology experts, protective services personnel, and various business and finance jobs. An emphasis on reconstruction programs in foreign countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as stepped up diplomatic efforts abroad, is creating a large demand at the State Department for more Foreign Service Officers.

DHS expects to hire 65,730 mission-critical employees during the next three years including 34,500 transportation security officers and 9,800 border patrol agents. This reflects the increased vigilance at airports, the seaports and other transportation sectors against the terrorist threat, and decisions by policymakers to tighten entry points into the country to combat illegal immigration.

Continuing threats to national security are also resulting in a build-up of the nation’s intelligence capacity. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), a federation of 17 executive branch agencies and components, projects that it will fill 5,500 mission-critical positions in fiscal 2010. Intelligence officials have publicly said they will need to hire thousands of employees in the next several years.

To better meet its responsibility to maintain the stability of the nation’s financial institutions, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) will be hiring financial institution examiners, resolutions and receivership specialists and attorneys. In addition, demand is projected to continue for Internal Revenue Service agents and tax examiners, and for accounting and budgeting across the government.