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Federal Jobs Brain Drain

Retirement will lead to more federal jobs but less qualified workers

A bulk of jobs will open up as the oldest members of the federal workforce prepare to retire. In fact, more than 60 percent of federal workers are 45-years-old or older, and the Government will look to younger Americans to fill the gap. However, the Federal Government is not only concerned about the hole retiring baby boomers will create, but also the lack of experience younger employees might bring to those positions.

Preparing for losses

In the next four years, the federal government will see more than half of its workforce retire. The biggest deficit will be in management positions. For example, 58 percent of supervisory and 42 percent of non-supervisory workers will be eligible for retirement in 2010, according to a Partnership for Public Service report. Additionally, more than 200,000 federal employees may resign within the next five years. Consequently, more than 900,000 workers will leave the federal government.

Federal workers will also leave the following fields:

• The Department of Homeland Security - 40 percent of managers and program analysts will reach retirement eligibility by 2009.



• Senior Executive Service - 42 percent will retire by 2010.



• Social Security Administration - 87 percent of claims administrators and 94 percent of administrative law judges will retire by 2010.



• Federal Aviation Administration - attrition rates are expected to triple by 2012.