Federal

Hiring
Asaresultofthe20082009economicdownturnandincreasedbudgetconstraints,federalhiringhasbeenonthedecline.With
feweropportunitiestobringonnewemployees,itiscriticalforagenciestofocusonhiringthemosthighlyqualiedindividualsto
meetthenationsneeds.Whodidgovernmenthirein2013andhowhastheproleofthishiringclassevolvedfrompreviousyears?
Wherearethesenewemployeeslocatedandinwhichagenciesdotheyserve?Toanswerthesequestions,thePartnershipfor
PublicServiceanalyzedrecenthiringdataforfull-time,nonseasonal,permanentcivilianemployeeshiredinscal2013inexecutive
branchagencies,excludingtheU.S.PostalService.
60
90
120
150
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
THOUSAND
LEFT SERVICE
NEW HIRES
RECENT HIRING AND SEPARATION TRENDS
Whileaboutthesamenumberofindividualsleftfederalserviceinscal
2012and2013,thenumberofnewemployeeshiredbythegovernment
dropped last year by more than 13,000. In most cases, the new
employeeslledjobsheldbythosewholeftfederalservice.
2013 NEW EMPLOYEES
GOVERNMENT-WIDE
76,735
PERCENT OF THE TOTAL
FEDERAL WORKFORCE
4.2%
PERCENT DECREASE IN
NEW HIRES SINCE 2009
46.4%
SIZE OF THE FEDERAL WORKFORCE
PERCENT OF TOTAL NEW EMPLOYEES BY AGENCY
79.8% OF NEW
EMPLOYEES WERE
HIRED BY DEFENSE
AND SECURITY-
RELATED AGENCIES
36.2% OF NEW
EMPLOYEES WERE HIRED
BY DEPARTMENT OF
DEFENSE AGENCIES
VETERANS AFFAIRS 33.3%
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 4.7%
ARMY 12.5%
NAVY 9.7%
AIR FORCE 9.0%
JUSTICE 5.2%
HOMELAND SECURITY 5.1%
DEFENSE 5.0%
TREASURY 1.8%
AGRICULTURE 1.7%
88.0% OF NEW
EMPLOYEES WERE
HIRED BY TEN
AGENCIES
OTHER 12.0%
The Department of Veterans Afairs hired the most new employees in government during scal 2013
25,566andbroughtonslightlymoreemployeeslastyearthanin2012.Outofall40largeandmid-size
agencies (those employing 1,000 or more employees), 12 agencies hired more new employees in 2013
thanin2012.
2010
1940
1960
1980
2000
1950
1970
1990
2013 FEDERAL
WORKFORCE
2.1MILLION
FULL-TIME,
NONSEASONAL,
PERMANENT
EMPLOYEES
1.8MILLION
0.5 1.5 MILLION 2.5
2013
2
0
1
4
Knowingthedemographics,educationlevel,genderandothercharacteristicsofthe
employeesagenciesarehiringisvaluableinformationforpotentialjobseekers.This
analysislooksatthemajorcharacteristicsofnewfull-time,nonseasonal,permanent
federalemployeeshiredinscal2013.
PERCENT OF TOTAL NEW EMPLOYEES
MEDICAL,
DENTAL AND
PUBLIC HEALTH
26.9%
ADMINISTRATION,
OPERATIONS AND
GENERAL MGMT.
12.8%

OTHER
OCCUPATIONS
6.5%
SOCIAL SCIENCES
AND PSYCHOLOGY
5.6%
NEW EMPLOYEES IN 2013 20,646 9,863 4,993 4,281
NEW EMPLOYEES IN 2012 19,493 13,033 5,227 4,420
AGE
< 25
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49
50-54
55-59
60-64
> 65
10 10 20 20
TOTAL FEDERAL WORKFORCE
NEW EMPLOYEES
17.0
18.3
13.1
13.9
2.3
0.7 3.8
1.0
6.1
10.4
10.1
12.2
15.3
17.8
14.7
8.6
TOP 10 OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS FOR NEW FEDERAL EMPLOYEES
Theclassofnewlyhiredemployeesinscal2013isslightlylessraciallydiversethan
the total federal workforce. In 2013, 35.0 percent of the entire federal workforce
wascomposedofindividualsofaminorityracialgroupcomparedto32.2percentof
newlyhiredemployees.
TOTAL FEDERAL WORKFORCE
NEW EMPLOYEES
17.1
67.8
WHITE
BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN
HISPANIC OR LATINO
ASIAN
AMERICAN INDIAN OR ALASKA NATIVE
MIXED RACE
NATIVE HAWAIIAN OR PACIFIC ISLANDER
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
A prole of recent federal hires
Data Sources: Unlessotherwisenotedbelow,alldataarefrom
FedScope(fedscope.opm.gov)forallfull-time,nonseasonal,
permanentemployeeswhowerehiredinscal2013.
Education Level:PartnershipforPublicServiceanalysisoftheCentral
PersonnelDataFile(nowcalledtheEHRI-SDM)forfull-time,non-
seasonal,permanentemployeeswhowerehiredinscal2013.
Race and Ethnicity:U.S.OfceofPersonnelManagementanalysisforfull-
time,nonseasonal,permanentemployeeswhowerehiredinscal2013.
Veteran Status:U.S.OfceofPersonnelManagement,Employment
of Veterans in the Federal Executive Branch: Fiscal Year 2012,
(Washington,D.C.,2012),18.
Historical Federal Workforce Tables:ExecutiveBranchCivilian
EmploymentSince1940,U.S.OfceofPersonnelManagement,
http://1.usa.gov/1qUnFOQ(accessedFeb.25,2014).
Data on the U.S. Population:TheOlderPopulationintheUnited
States:2012;Table1.PopulationbyAgeandSex,U.S.CensusBureau,
https://www.census.gov/population/age/data/2012.html(accessed
June15,2014).
Data on the Civilian Labor Force: Employmentstatusofthecivilian
noninstitutionalpopulationbyage,sex,andrace,U.S.Bureauof
LaborStatistics,http://1.usa.gov/1geGOD3(accessedFeb.25,2014).
PARTNERSHIPFORPUBLICSERVICE
STEMM HIRING TRENDS
More than 50 percent of new employees
hired by the federal government in scal
2013 were under the age of 40. Employees
under 30 accounted for 24.2 percent of all
new employees hired in 2013, which stands
in contrast to the 7.1 percent of the total
federal workforce made up of employees
under30.
7.2
17.0
18.3
13.1
13.9
12.0
9.6
5.9
Individualsworkinginscience,technology,engineering,math-
ematicsandmedicine(STEMM)eldsmadeup39.1percentof
allnewemployeeshiredinscal2013.Thepercentageofnew
employees hired in STEMM elds has risen steadily, increasing
byabout10percentagepointssince2009.
35
40
45
30
25
20
PERCENT
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2005 2006
39.1
35.1
32.7
30.1
29.0
27.6
26.8
25.5
24.4
RACE AND ETHNICITY
5.6
5.4
2.0
1.7
0.4
65.0
18.1
8.3
5.4
1.7
1.1
0.4
30
40
50
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
PERCENT
VETERAN HIRING TRENDS
Thepercentageofveteransamongthenewemployeeshiredby
governmenthassteadilyincreasedsince2008.
VETERAN STATUS
NON-VETERAN
VETERAN
45.0
TOTA
L
F
E
D
E
R
A
L

W
O
R
K
F
O
R
C
E
55.0 31.7%
68.3%
GS LEVEL

ENGINEERING AND
ARCHITECTURE
4.7%

ACCOUNTING
AND BUDGET
4.4%
INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
4.4%

BUSINESS AND
COMMERCE
4.0%
INVESTIGATION
AND INSPECTION
4.0%

LEGAL AND
CLAIMS SERVICES
3.7%
3,633 3,384 3,367 3,083 3,068 2,833
4,504 4,295 4,731 3,922 5,349 3,873
FEDFIGURES|FEDERALHIRING
EDUCATION LEVEL
63.5
23.6
12.4
GS 1-3
1.0%
GS 4
5.8%
GS 5
20.1%
GS 6
9.1%
GS 15
1.6% GS 14
3.1%
GS 13
7.7%
GS 12
9.8%
GS 11
12.6%
GS 10
1.2%
GS 9
11.5%
GS 8
1.7%
GS 7
14.3%
SES
0.5%
The General Schedule (GS) is a 15-level, government-wide pay and
classication system used for the majority of the federal workforce.
In scal 2013, the majority of new employees were brought in at the
entry level (GS 1-9), accounting for 35,796 or 63.5 percent of all new
employeeshiredintojobsclassiedaccordingtotheGSsystem.
TOTA
L
F
E
D
E
R
A
L

W
O
R
K
F
O
R
C
E
42.6
57.4
42.7% 57.3%
GENDER
MALE
FEMALE
Thegenderbreakdownofnewemployeeshiredinscal2013closely
mirrorsthecompositionofthefederalworkforce.Womencurrently
makeupasmallerpercentageofbothnewemployeesandthetotal
federal workforce than they represent in the total U.S. population,
where51percentofthepopulationismadeupofwomen.
Ofallnewemployeeshiredinscal2013,38,717or50.7
percent had at least a four-year college degree. This
representsanincreaseof1.6percentagepointsover2012.
MID LEVEL
ENTRY LEVEL
SES
SENIOR LEVEL
44.7
39.2
35.9
35.0
Atotalof39,136veteranswerehiredbythefederalgovernmentinscal
2012,themostrecentyearforwhichcompletedataforveteransisavailable.
Veteransconstitutedalargerpercentageofnewemployees(45.0percent)
thantheymadeupinthetotalfederalworkforce(31.7percent).
45.0
33.7
35.3
30.4
0.6
NEW HIRES TOTAL FEDERAL
WORKFORCE
39.4
20 40 20 40
< HIGH SCHOOL
HIGH SCHOOL
ASSOCIATES
BACHELORS
MASTERS
DOCTORATE
43.7
9.7
30.4
16.3
41.0
8.8
32.3
14.6
0.2
4.0
0.5
2.8
TOTAL FEDERAL WORKFORCE
NEW EMPLOYEES
5 4
Inanalyzingfederalhiringdata,thePartnershipnds:
Hiringinthefederalgovernmenthasdeclined46.4percentduringthe
pastfouryears.
The gender breakdown of the federal workforce does not reect the
composition of the U.S. population, where women make up just over
halfofthepopulation.Thegovernmentsclassofnewlyhiredemployees
inscal2013reinforcedthegapbetweenmenandwomeninthefederal
workforce,wheremenoutnumberwomenby14.6percent.
The percentage of employees hired for STEMM occupations has
continued to increase during the past few years, underscoring the
governments need for individuals with high levels of education and
professionalskills.
Employeesunder30makeuponly7.1percentofthefederalworkforce,
compared to 23.0 percent in the private sector. In scal 2013, 24.2
percentofallnewemployeeshiredwereunderage30,butfrom2005
to 2009, employees under 30 accounted for more than 30 percent
of new federal workers. The federal government needs to develop a
strategytorecruitandretainagreaterpercentageofyoungerworkers
tobuildapipelineforthefuture.
Asgovernmentbringsonboardfewernewemployeeseachyear,itbecomes
increasingly important for agencies to identify and hire the best talent.
Ideally,hiringpresentsagencystafwiththeopportunitytomeetitscurrent
andfutureneeds,althoughthistaskisoftenchallenginggiventheconstraints
imposed by the outdated civil service system. Providing a wider range of
hiringexibilitieswillhelpagenciessecurethetalenttheyneedtomeetthe
nationsgrowingandevolvingchallenges.
Forfurtherinformationonbesthiringpractices,seeWhatsMyRole:AStep-
by-StepHiringGuideforFederalManagers,andformoreinformationonthe
federalworkforce,seethePartnershipsFederalWorkforceFedFigures.The
Partnershipsproposaltoreformthecivilservicesystem,includingtheway
thegovernmenthiresnewemployees,isoutlinedinBuildingtheEnterprise:
A New Civil Service Framework. All are available at ourpublicservice.org/
publications.
PARTNERSHIPFORPUBLICSERVICE
2
8
4
6
10
9
7
1
5
3
PERCENT OF TOTAL NEW EMPLOYEES BY LOCATION
ThePartnershipforPublicServiceisanonprot,nonpartisanorganizationthatworkstorevitalizeourfederalgovernmentbyinspiringanewgenerationto
serveandbytransformingthewaygovernmentworks.ForfurtherinformationaboutthePartnership,visitourpublicservice.org.
TEXAS
8.0%
CALIFORNIA
7.3%
NORTHCAROLINA
2.9%
GEORGIA
3.0%
FLORIDA
4.4%
D.C.
7.4%
MARYLAND
6.0%
VIRGINIA
8.9%
PENNSYLVANIA
2.9%
NEWYORK
2.8%
OTHER STATES (EACH < 2.8%)
TOP 10 JURISDICTIONS
Federal hiring levels vary largely from one geographic region to
another.WhilestatesintheWashington,D.C.metropolitanregion
stillrankamongthosewiththelargestpercentageofnewfederal
employees,bothVirginiaandD.C.constitutedasmallerpercentage
oftotalhiresin2013thantheydidin2012.Thetoptenjurisdictions
accountedfor53.6percentofallnewemployeeshiredinscal2013.
53.6
46.4