The Big Picture

Our federal government is hiring tens of thousands of new employees at a steady pace, with job openings available for every interest area and at virtually every agency.

Where the Jobs Are, the only comprehensive projection of the federal government’s hiring needs, presents a clear roadmap of these exciting public service possibilities, outlining both the specific types of permanent, full-time federal jobs being filled and agency-by-agency hiring projections.

By fall of 2012, we estimate that the federal government will hire nearly 273,000 new workers for mission-critical jobs—positions considered crucial by agencies to fulfill their essential obligations to the American people.

The good news is that these jobs cover almost all occupational fields and issue areas, and are located throughout the country and around the world. They include doctors, nurses, pharmacists, law enforcement and immigration personnel, accountants, auditors, lawyers, information technology specialists, engineers, program managers, administrators and professionals in many other important job categories.

The projected growth in mission-critical hiring—a 41 percent increase compared to the previous three fiscal years—reflects a need to replace retiring baby boomers and those leaving federal service for other reasons. While the government is not growing significantly bigger in historical terms (by the end of 2012, we’ll have a smaller workforce than in 1967), agencies are adding new positions to meet an increased demand for services fueled by factors such as two prolonged wars, pressing homeland security needs and the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

This hiring surge comes at a time of high national unemployment and a renewed enthusiasm for public service. This means there will be fierce competition for the federal jobs, offering the government a chance to select high-caliber talent, reinvigorate the civil service and build a workforce for tomorrow.

For highly capable job seekers motivated by a desire to make a difference and improve the lives of Americans, there are no better possibilities than the opportunities provided in the federal civil service.

Legislators, policymakers and agency leaders can use the data to identify those areas where strategic investments should be made, innovative recruitment approaches can be employed and hiring flexibilities granted to ensure a top-flight workforce. The data also provide government managers with the opportunity to step back and assess talent needs on an organization-wide basis.

The projected 273,000 openings in the next three fiscal years do not include every single job that will be available in our government, just those designated as permanent, full-time, mission-critical positions. Separately, we estimate that during the full four years of President Obama’s term, new hiring for all types of federal government positions will reach nearly 600,000 people or almost one-third of the current workforce.

Source: Partnership for Public Service
For historical consistency within this diagram, the federal employment numbers are from Current Employment Statistics (CES). CES is a monthly survey conducted by state employment agencies in cooperation with the Bureau of Labor Statistics and it provides data for the subgroup “Federal, except U.S. Postal Service” since 1939.