Beyond the Capital: The Federal Workforce Outside the D.C. Area When you think of the federal government, you probably think of Washington, D.C. Indeed, the nation’s capital is home to the White House, Congress, the Supreme Court and many federal agency headquarters. But it is far from the only federal hub. In fact, the vast majority of the roughly 2 million federal career civil servants—more... Read more
A Profile of the 2023 Federal Workforce By: Elizabeth Byers , Kennedy Teel The federal government currently employs over 2 million people who deliver a wide range of essential services to the American public. These professionals play a crucial role in protecting our national security, promoting public health, driving economic development and more. Nonpartisan civil servants are hired based on merit to serve under other nonpartisan civil servants... Read more
How the Federal Workforce is Impacted During a Government Shutdown Government shutdowns have a profound effect on our nation’s federal employees and the public—curtailing the ability of civil servants to do their jobs and provide crucial public benefits, conduct scientific research, manage the economy, address national security challenges and more. Shutdowns occur when Congress does not pass the necessary appropriations bills to fund agencies’ operations. During... Read more
Senior Executive Service: Trends over 25 years Established by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, the Senior Executive Service, or SES, is the executive branch’s corps of senior leaders serving in key positions just below agencies’ top political appointees. Members of the SES, most of whom are career civil servants, oversee significant federal programs and functions, and manage thousands of employees. They... Read more
Who is quitting and retiring: Important fiscal 2021 trends in the federal government Attrition is an ongoing concern for our federal government. While some attrition is natural and can help infuse the federal workforce with new talent and ideas, turnover can also cause a loss of institutional knowledge and cost hiring managers both time and resources. Therefore, federal leaders need to monitor attrition and be proactive when possible... Read more
Fed Figures: California Workforce – FY 2020 By: Elizabeth Byers The federal government employed 159,077* workers in California at the end of fiscal 2020, representing about 8% of the total federal workforce. Only the District of Columbia and Virginia had more federal employees. In addition, more Californians work for federal agencies than for the entire University of California system, making the government one of the largest employers in the state. This profile focuses on full-time, nonseasonal, civilian federal employees in California, with the exception of those individuals who work in the legislative or judicial branches, the intelligence community or for the U.S. Postal Service. Read more
The Federal Workforce and the Trump Administration By: , Elizabeth Byers This analysis sheds light on our nation's federal civilian workforce during the Trump administration. What changes occurred throughout the administration's four years? Did past trends continue or change under President Donald Trump? The Partnership for Public Service analyzed federal workforce data to answer these and other questions. Read more
Fed Figures: COVID-19 and the Federal Workforce The COVID-19 pandemic has posed a once-in-a-generation challenge for the federal government and its 2 million employees, creating urgent new missions and fundamentally altering how government engages the public. This analysis sheds light on the key characteristics of our nation’s federal civilian workforce in this period, many of whom are on the front lines in the fight against the coronavirus. Read more
How one public-private partnership is closing the cybersecurity talent gap The Partnership for Public Service recently launched the Cybersecurity Talent Initiative to address an emerging crisis in our country: the shortage of well-trained cybersecurity professionals. The initiative is a first-of-its kind public-private partnership designed to reduce this talent gap. Read more
Celebrating the work of civil servants who safeguard our nation It often takes a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic for us to remember how important federal employees are to our daily lives. Our nation’s civil servants defend our shores, protect our computer networks and secure our financial institutions. They safeguard travelers and our vast transportation systems. Read more
