March 3, 2008
A summary of daily news relevant to the federal workforce produced by the Partnership for
Public Service.
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Submit Your Nominations Today for the 2008 Service to America Medals: Only One Week Remaining!
The Partnership for Public Service
Do you know an extraordinary federal employee who is doing remarkable work on behalf of our country? There is one month remaining to help them
receive the recognition they deserve and a chance to win up to $10,000 by nominating them for the 2008 Service to America Medals (Sammies).
With your help, the Sammies put a compelling human face on government service and seek to inspire a new generation of Americans to
serve.
The awards include cash prizes from $3,000 to $10,000 in the following categories:
- Federal Employee of the Year
- Career Achievement (requires 20+ years of government service)
- Call to Service (age 35 or younger, and 5 years or less of government service)
- Citizen Services
- Homeland Security
- Justice and Law Enforcement
- National Security and International Affairs
- Science and Environment
Click here to download the
2008 nominations flyer. Nominations must be submitted online at http://www.servicetoamericamedals.org/ by March 10, 2008 (extended deadline).
For more information, please send an email to awards@ourpublicservice.org or call Kristin Esham
at 202-775-9111.
C’mon and Be a Bureaucrat
NEWSWEEK
By Tony Dokoupil
With close to a hundred undergraduates looking on, federal recruiter Jesse Tampio took the stage recently at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, and
set about busting the "myths" of government work. "People say that the government is this huge bureaucracy," said Tampio, 31, a State Department
lawyer and volunteer pitchman. "But it's a useful skill to learn how to navigate it." The hour-long PowerPoint presentation also addressed Uncle
Sam's reputation for poor pay and cronyism, while selling the upsides of federal service—like proximity to power. One slide featured a photo
of federal workers hobnobbing at a chili cook-off. As Tampio said: "You're on the inside rather than on the outside yelling in."
The session is part of the government's push for talent, an intensifying effort to recruit a new generation of civil servants amid the biggest
hiring crisis in U.S. government history. More federal employees are expected to retire in 2008 than in any previous year, and 2009 could be even
worse, according to the Office of Personnel Management. By 2012, more than 50 percent of the current work force, including 90 percent of senior
management and a third of all scientists and economists, will be gone—leaving a quarter million jobs in their wake.
As the retirement wave hits, many agencies are flashing unprecedented signing bonuses and scholarships to attract new talent. The Department of
Defense is doling out bonuses of $5,000 or more to would-be intelligence analysts, while the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is courting young
scientists with funding for second or third degrees. But despite these enticements, the United States is struggling to woo a generation of young
people who see a more productive and lucrative future for themselves in the private sector. "Kennedy's message is no longer the right one," says Max
Stier, president of the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, which organized the Bates event with government cooperation. "It's not about what
you can do for government. We need to convey what government can do for you."
OPM's military-style recruiting campaign includes job fairs at more than 600 universities and prime-time national advertising. The first-ever
commercials for civil-service work feature young Feds waxing grandly about their jobs before a voice-over exclaims: "Wow! That's impressive. Who do
you work for?" If the OPM's efforts fail—since 2006, the government has made more than 100,000 hires to keep pace with
retirements—private contractors are poised to pick up the slack. But the repercussions could go beyond privatization if the government fails
to replenish its ranks. "When it comes to problems like climate change and disaster relief, if government is not involved, it will not happen," says
David Ellwood, dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, who adds that "it's absolutely vital to get spectacular people into government."
At the center of the government's talent troubles is a salary gap. "Why would you want to work for government when you can earn more and get more
done working for a government contractor?" asks John Cassidy, 29, who plans to take a job in the federal-projects branch of the consulting firm
Deloitte & Touche after graduating from the Kennedy School this spring. The firm offers nearly twice the salary and a full year of school
reimbursement money. By law, the government's best counteroffer is loan forgiveness (a maximum of $10,000 annually for up to six years) and a salary
of about $50,000 for any job taken by a master's degree recipient without government experience. "The fact is you can earn two or three times as much
in a consulting job, and that's not even counting the higher investment-banking jobs," says Ellwood.
There's also an aura of incompetence around government work. The days of desks' disappearing into the distance may be over, but there are still
35-page job listings, 14-page applications and dreary job titles. Matt Volner was a "building management specialist" at the General Services
Administration from October 2006 to October 2007. "I couldn't tell you what that means," says Volner, 24, a 2006 Cornell graduate, who has since quit
government work to become an actor in New York. "The whole year was a Kafkaesque nightmare in which my job was to find out what my job was."
The roots of the government's image issues run deep. President Ronald Reagan framed the federal worker as a handy scapegoat for society's ills in
1981 with the words "Government is not the solution"; since then, almost every presidential hopeful has run on some version of "Washington is
broken." When an interest group wants to torpedo a government initiative, it simply invokes the "bureaucrat" as an emblem of ineptitude. "We saw a
slight change during the 'West Wing' era," says Pat McGinnis, president of the Washington-based nonprofit Council for Excellence in Government. "But
otherwise it's just been nonstop portrayals of the bungling bureaucrat. It takes a toll."
Back at Bates, a more positive message seems to be getting through. "I want to be part of the change sweeping the government,"
says Becky Rubenstein, a senior psych major who wants to work in public health. Maybe all hope is not lost for Uncle Sam: after Rubenstein spent a
summer as an intern at a Boston nonprofit that struggled with funding, government chili might sound good.
Salary Squeeze
The Washington Post
By Stephen Barr
Pay raises are usually happy events, but there were some quiet moans across Washington when new government salary scales were published in
January.
For the first time, Washington area federal employees at the top of the government-wide salary scale, the General Schedule, had hit the "pay cap."
But the number affected was not known until late last month when the Congressional Research Service pulled together data for a report: 6,080 GS
employees in the Washington area were at the cap.
That may not seem like a lot, but only 824 employees across the nation were capped before the 2008 raise. What had been an issue for GS employees
in San Francisco, Houston and other cities is now an issue in Washington.
Don't expect any public protests, just private grumbling. That is because the cap is set at $149,000 this year, and longtime federal employees
know they can't expect much sympathy when they earn that much.
Still, there are consequences when employees hit the cap. Over time, their salaries become substantially lower than what they would have been, and
their pensions, which are partially based on salary, will be lower.
For example, because of the cap, San Francisco federal employees at the top of the GS scale -- the first to hit the pay ceiling in 2003 -- have
forgone nearly $49,000 in salary since then, the report said.
In addition, these employees' annual Civil Service Retirement System pension will be $7,068 less than it would have been without the cap.
When employees have their pay capped, they "may be more likely to retire as soon as they reach retirement eligibility -- possibly exacerbating the
'retirement tsunami' or 'brain drain' that has been viewed as a concern for the federal workforce," the report said.
Almost all companies and organizations, of course, limit salaries, based on employee roles and responsibilities. But the origins of the
government's pay curbs are rooted in law, and some have not been updated to reflect how work and compensation practices have evolved in recent
decades.
At least four laws come together to create the pay cap.
The 1949 Classification Act created the General Schedule, which has 15 grades, reflecting the difficulty of the work, and 10 steps within each
grade. Employees advance through the GS system based on longevity and job performance. The top of the scale is GS-15, step 10.
The 1990 Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act called for annual GS raises -- a base-pay raise and a supplemental raise that is tied to where
employees work and the cost of labor in that area.
A 1964 law established the Executive Schedule, which has five pay grades and covers Cabinet secretaries and more than 400 other Cabinet-level
officials.
And the 1989 Ethics Reform Act, which authorizes annual pay raises for Executive Schedule officials, the vice president and members of Congress.
Because pay raises are politically sensitive for members of Congress, the laws use formulas that provide Congress and the Cabinet with a lower
annual raise than that provided to federal employees. This year, for example, Washington area employees received a 4.49 percent raise, while members
of Congress and Executive Schedule officials received a 2.5 percent raise.
By law, the pay of GS employees cannot exceed that of assistant secretaries, general counsels, heads of smaller agencies and members of certain
boards and commissions. For 2008, their pay is set at $149,000.
Because the General Schedule salary scales rise at a higher percentage each year than the Executive Schedule does, an increasing number of federal
employees will hit the cap, a phenomenon called pay compression.
This year, GS-15 employees in 12 pay areas are affected by the salary cap, according to the Congressional Research Service report, which was
written by Curtis W. Copeland.
Employees in other pay areas, including Atlanta, Cincinnati and Cleveland, will hit the cap by 2010 or 2011, the report estimates.
To further complicate matters, other pay systems also have problems with pay compression. For example, the Senior Executives Association, a
federal employee group, testified at a House hearing last year that some federal executives are earning less than the workers they supervise.
The 1989 Ethics Reform Act included a provision to provide for a quadrennial review of federal salaries by a citizen's commission, which would
make recommendations to the president. But the commission was never formed.
Rep. William M. "Mac" Thornberry (R-Tex.) introduced a bill last month to establish a "civil service reform commission" that would review federal
pay and benefits, the recruitment and retention of employees, and the role of contractors. The bill would require Congress to cast an up-or-down vote
on the commission's recommendations, similar to the process for closing and consolidating military bases.
Because this is a presidential campaign year, Capitol Hill aides said it is unlikely that Congress will take up the Thornberry
bill or any proposal to overhaul federal pay this year.
Bright Spots for Workers in a Shaky Economy
The
Baltimore Sun
By Hanah Cho
Whether the economy is in a recession right now or not, workers are starting to feel wary about job security and professional prospects.
But there is a sliver of good news.
Several industries are resistant to the woes of a slowing economy, according to John A. Challenger, chief executive of Challenger, Gray &
Christmas, a Chicago outplacement firm.
The credit crunch and a slumping housing market have brought depressing job news from manufacturing, retail, construction and the real estate
sectors.
However, Challenger says the job market in the areas of security, energy, environment, healthcare and education are strong because of "major
long-term forces going in our economy, whether it's demographics or globalization."
Let's take a look at the strengths of these sectors:
- Security: In the post 9/11 world, there's growing demand for protecting the country's ports, borders and other infrastructure, Challenger
says.
For instance, the Department of Homeland Security is expected to hire more than 15,000 customs and border protection officers and border patrol
agents as well as another 22,000 airport screeners in the next three years, according to a 2007 report by the Partnership for Public Service.
Challenger says information technology expertise in the areas of anti-hacking and computer security is also hot.
- Energy: Population growth in China, India and elsewhere is fueling increasing demand for alternative sources of energy, Challenger
says.
With interest in wind, solar and ethanol as well as nuclear power, Challenger says job demands can grow in this area.
- Environment sector: With corporate America going green and concerns about global warming, Challenger says so-called "green-collar" jobs will be
created.
They include environmental engineers, corporate sustainability managers and solar panel technicians.
- Healthcare: As baby boomers age, the demand for health-related occupations are increasing as well. Personal and home care aides as well as
medical assistants, physical therapist assistants and pharmacy technicians are expected to be among the fastest-growing jobs in the next 10 years,
according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Education: Challenger says a wave of retirements of kindergarten-through-12th grade teachers and increasing student enrollment are creating
vacancies.
And as more people consider education as lifelong learning that extends beyond high school or college diplomas, Challenger says workers will
request training and development on the corporate level.
