TOPICS
TOPICS
Federal employees' job tenure on the decline
Federal employees still remain on the job much longer than private sector workers, but the gap is narrowing.
New numbers released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the length of tenure for federal employees is decreasing while that of private sector workers is increasing. From February 2000 to January 2006, median years in federal service dropped from 11.5 years to 9.9 years.
During that same period, median private sector tenure rose from 3.2 years to 3.6 years. These figures are taken from the BLS Current Population Survey, conducted every two years on about 60,000 households. The survey includes both wage and salary workers.
The federal trend differs from that for state and local government workers, too. Federal employees stay longer than other public sector workers, but not as much as they used to. Tenure for state employees rose from 5.5 years to 6.3 years from February 2000 to January 2006. Length of stay for local government workers dropped slightly during that time, from 6.7 years to 6.6 years.
The BLS report cites age as a primary factor for the much longer tenure of public sector employees. About 75 percent of government employees were 35 and older, while about 60 percent of private sector workers fell into that range.
The report also points out that employees in "management, professional and related occupations" had the longest median tenure, at 5.2 years, of all occupations. Median tenure was lowest among workers in service occupations: 1.8 years for food service workers and 2.8 years for service workers in general. Differences in occupational options between the public and private sectors may account for some of the gap in tenure.
Federal employees have sometimes been referred to as having "golden handcuffs" because of the generous retirement and health benefits they hold on to by remaining in their jobs until retirement. In 1986, Congress created the Federal Employees Retirement System, which features a more portable 401(k)-style retirement savings plan that is not dependent on remaining in government.
COMMENTS
- I retired from the Navy in 1995 and joined the federal civilian work sector after the dual compensation laws were rescinded. I offered 25-plus years of experience without the specter of retiring within a few years - the major human capital threat of my baby-boomer contemporaries. Despite this, and quality work, I could not make headway in advancement - advancing only from GS-13 to GS-14 in six years. Careerists did not want to deal with hard-charging former military personnel. I was violating their comfort level. Management and FERS offered no incentive to stay. So I recently took my MBA and 31 years hands-on experience to the private sector. Would I still like to be a government employee? Yes. Am I willing to work in the current leadership vacuum? No. GovExec.com reader Posted November 10, 2006 8:37 AM
- I have 25 years service with the Defense Department. Even though I hate to wish my life away, I sure wish I had five more. There will be no looking back when I walk out that door! Civil Posted September 26, 2006 8:57 AM
- Another reason that the tenure has been reduced, at least in the Defense Department, is that since Bush declared us at war, the retiring military personnel, especially officers, have been the only ones getting hired for civilian vacant positions. We have had only one career civil servant promoted at my location since 9/11. All others have been either officers or senior enlisted personnel who were retiring. These personnel have no corporate knowledge and have no intentions, in most cases, of staying employed as a civilian until they can retire again. GovExec.com reader Posted September 18, 2006 9:02 AM
