Government Job Hiring Set to Soar

Retirement and national security drive federal job growth

By Robert Longley, About.com Guide

"This report confirms that no matter what your area of expertise, or where you live, if you are looking for a job where you can develop your professional skills and make a difference in the lives of others, the federal government has a job for you," states the report, Where the Jobs Are: Mission Critical Opportunities for America (.pdf).

According to the report, almost 80 percent of the new hires for government jobs will be in five professional fields:

• Security, Protection, compliance and enforcement (62,863 new hires)

• Medical and Public health (35,350 new hires)

• Accounting, budget and business (21,248 new hires)

• engineering and Sciences (17,477 new hires)

• Program Management/Analysis and Administration (14,305 new hires)

Security-related jobs in high demand
Driving the hiring rush are the impending retirement or resignation of nearly one-third of the 1.6 million current federal workers, along with stepped-up efforts to secure the U.S. against terrorism and illegal immigration. The Departments of Defense and Homeland Security alone are expected to offer more than 83,000 new jobs.

More than 15,000 new Customs and Border Patrol agents and 22,000 Transportation Security Agency airport screeners are expected to be hired over the coming three years.

Other professions expecting job growth include:

• Information Technology: Agencies report dramatically increased demand for information technology (IT) specialists. In 2007, two out of every three agencies listed it as a mission critical occupation and plan to hire 11,562 IT professionals through 2009.

• Health Care: Agencies project more than 35,000 hires in health care fields through 2009.
• Accounting, Budget and Business: Jobs in these fields are expected to increase significantly, due in part, to increased demand for contracting specialists.
• Engineering: The departments of Defense, Transportation, Energy and NASA and the Nuclear Regulatory Agency will be seeking engineers in all disciplines. The Pentagon alone expects to hire 7,652 engineers.

Other specific jobs expecting high demand through 2009 include air traffic controllers (15,004), foreign service officers (3,500), and patent examiners (1,500).

The full Partnership for Public Service report contains detailed hiring projections for all major federal agencies.

Federal Job Seekers' Resources

• The Government Job Finder is a tool for finding job openings in the U.S. Government fitting your specific area of interest or expertise.

• Job and Career Information at Major Agencies offers handy links to the employment-related web sites of 20 major federal agencies, plus civilian careers in all branches of the U.S. Military.
• USAJOBS.gov is the official job site of the U.S. government. The job openings database always contains at least 35,000 opportunities.