As another government shutdown looms, government jobs lose their luster
As another government shutdown looms, government jobs lose their luster
If legislators on Capitol Hill can’t scrounge up a deal by Sept. 30 to fund the government for the next year, or even the next few months to tide us over a bit, the federal government will close for business.
It would be the fourth government shutdown in a decade. And it would likely disrupt the lives of hundreds of thousands of federal workers. The prospect of yet another shutdown isn’t making things easy for the country’s largest employer — or its largest workforce.
Even the threat of shutdowns makes government jobs a lot less appealing, said Max Stier, who runs the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service.
“Because anybody who is thinking about public service has to consider the risk that Congress doesn’t do its job and they’re either furloughed or told they must work even though their paycheck’s not coming,” Stier said.
Research from Qualtrics, a software and data firm, found that fewer than half of recent graduates are even considering working in government.
“Shutdown is very bad branding, particularly for students and recent graduates,” said Sydney Heimbrock, Qualtrics’ chief industry adviser for government.
She said shutdowns also make it hard to retain current federal workers. “They’re getting tired of being lambasted in political discourse. They’re getting tired of being sent home with no pay on an annual basis. And you just can’t treat people like that and expect them to have a sense of passion and loyalty to you as an employer.”
Federal workers have been paid after past shutdowns — albeit late. (Current federal law mandates back pay after shutdowns.)
Vicky Wilkins, who teaches public policy and human resources at American University, said while federal workers seem to have ridden out the shutdown dramas of the recent past, “that may change. That really might change if we continue to have these every few years … and it just does prove to be too much upheaval in their careers, in their lives.”
Especially given the current job market, with plenty of employers ready to poach skilled workers for jobs that aren’t subject to the whims of some members of Congress.
Correction (Sept. 19, 2023): A previous version of this story mischaracterized federal policy for back pay after shutdowns.
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