Is your government organization having trouble recruiting young talent? Are you preparing to lose seasoned employees due to retirement or a change in profession? If so, maybe assistance from a staffing firm is the solution!
Did you know only 7 percent of all public-sector workers at the federal, state, county, and municipal levels, are 30 years old or younger? The federal government alone expects about one-fourth of its current workers to retire by late 2016. The average federal worker’s age is 46. And young people aren’t shoving in line to replace them. According to a 2010 federal executive branch tally, employees under age 31 accounted for 13 percent of total employment in all federal departments, offices, and agencies. The coming federal retirement wave, coupled with overall government shrinkage in the past few years, will greatly affect employment and job opportunities.
The government knows that it has a recruiting challenge. It has taken steps to ease the pathway to employment for recent graduates by introducing a program of that very name: Pathways. Applicants still have to use the USAjobs.gov employment site, but it does put young people in a smaller applicant pool for consideration. Are there any other alternatives to these routes?
At Rockhurst University’s career services office, assistant director Shelly Oliver said students tell her that they’re deterred by the government’s cumbersome and lengthy application process. What helps overcome young people’s overall disinterest in government jobs, Oliver said, is on-campus recruiting by federal agencies, especially if it includes visits by young alumni who have taken jobs at those places. A good example, she said, is the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, which participates in mock interview days on campus and offers paid internships to students. The Social Security Administration also has stepped up efforts to reach students.
With job search efforts becoming increasingly difficult for recent graduates, more than a few are seeking staffing agencies to ease the process. Why not entrust your career path to an established staffing company with tons of clients of their choosing, in a time of financial uncertainty?
Click here for part two of this entry.
