Personnel er...now we call them "human resources" ...officials in federal government have been concerned in recent years about future staffing as baby boomers start retiring. Now, however, there seems to be an uptick in interest among job-seekers in working for the government. Why?
What's that I hear you saying? "It's the economy, stupid!"? Well, yes, but I think that's oversimplified. Government employment ebbed and surged in the course of the twentieth century and into the 21st as a result of several factors. Usually the big shifts have resulted from the convergence of more than one of the following:
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Expanded job supply, such as exists today with baby boomers retiring, or after World War II when the government's functions expanded rapidly (experts like Dr. David DeLong, quoted in Bottom Line/Personal newsletter, say up to 60% of federal supervisors will be eligible to retire in 2010);
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Expanded supply of workers, which can result from unemployment (like today or during the Great Depression) or from huge numbers of men and women being discharged from the military who already have a service orientation;
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Changes in national mood, as we cycle between administrations that both encourage a service orientation over pure self-interest, and also set off a spark among younger Americans (here the contrast between the Peace Corps, which did both, and the Thousand Points of Light, which did only the first, is revealing);
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Shifting perceptions of meaningful opportunities in the public sector, (job seekers today surely take into account that current plans for new departures in energy, education, health, and environment will create exciting possibilities for professional fulfillment in a way that the last decade's minimalist approach to government did not).
Every one of these factors is present in society today, so it's little wonder that more people are exploring the possibility of working for government. One of this blog's readers has observed that the stimulus money approved earlier appears to focus largely on blue-collar work. I'm not certain that's true, but perhaps white-collar jobs take a little longer to develop; here's one sector where they are already in existence, and coming open.
Incidentally, government also faces the issue of lost experience and knowledge as older workers retire. I don't want to get into that issue here but anyone interested might want to look at Dr. David DeLong's www.lostknowledge.com, or Roberta Matuson's blog, www.generationintegration.typepad.com.
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