TMCnet News
Albuquerque Journal, N.M., Barbara Armijo column: Boomer Retirements Could Bust Federal Workforce(Albuquerque Journal (NM) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Oct. 27--In case you haven't heard, the oldest members of the 76-million baby-boomer generation are set to reach their 65th birthday in 2011. The federal government is more than a little worried that those boomers will be holding combination birthday/retirement parties. Americans born between 1946 and 1964 make up a third or more of the nation's working population, including 60 percent of the federal workforce. Boomers fill many of its most skilled and senior jobs. And thanks to near-workaholic habits, they are among the most aggressive, creative and demanding workers on the market. For the federal government, the threat that its workforce will be shrinking by 60 percent this decade is a big deal. So much so that it is going prime time to hunt for replacements. In New Mexico, there are about 330 job openings. The number fluctuates as positions are filled and others open up. A U.S. Office of Personnel Management-produced ad campaign started airing television advertisements in Albuquerque and 17 other markets last week. Linda M. Springer, director of the office, said, "We copied the concept that the military uses to recruit and modified it to work for the civilian workforce." It's the first time the federal government has used TV advertising to attract workers. Today, the Office of Personnel Management will be among the exhibitors at the 33rd Annual International Symposium and Career Fair of the Society of Mexican American Engineers and Scientists (MAES), at the Albuquerque Convention Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Engineers and scientists are just some of the in-demand jobs, Springer said, so bring your resume. The TV ads feature people such as Shakur Walker, an electrical engineer with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission who inspects nuclear power plants, and Sarah Stauderman, a preservation manager at the Smithsonian Institution. OK, so the ads didn't feature, for instance, a clerk in the Social Security office pushing paper or doing data entry. But that doesn't mean there aren't job openings at all levels of the government. "We don't think there's any area or agency that won't be affected," Springer said. And those openings won't all be filled by fresh college graduates, either, Springer said. "Any age, any occupation will have an opportunity to find a job with us," she said. "We believe there's an advantage to having a balanced age range. The experience a more mature worker brings to us is valued." There are more than 30,000 vacancies a month on the federal jobs Web site, www.USAJOBS.GOV. Springer said another part of the government's plan is to entice boomers to stay on the job a little longer, or perhaps come back. Federal legislation is being introduced to allow federal agencies to rehire recent retirees to train new hires without interruption of the retirees' pension, Springer said. Perhaps more important than sheer numbers of people retiring are the skills and experience they will take with them. Boomers are the veterans of the work force. They often hold the institutional memory of thousands of agencies -- this is true in the private sector as well. If you're an airline pilot flying a Boeing 747 to Asia, a registered nurse on a critical-care ward or a supervisor on a police homicide squad, chances are you're a boomer, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics. America is already facing a skills shortage because of a lack of people trained in technical and scientific fields. That will only get worse as boomers retire. Springer said the federal government is prepared to compete with the private sector for the best people to hire. "It's definitely a seller's market when it comes to talent," she said. "We need to be competitive, not just with compensation, but with all the benefits available to keep the edge we have." A familiar parental tip many Boomers might have heard holds that you can't go wrong working for the government. Springer said she likes to think that's still the case. The TV ads certainly portray that. So for the prospective federal job seeker, Springer said the best advice is to go to the Web site and see if America can use your skills. If not now, check back. The birthday party and retirement parties have just started, and there's still more than three years left in this decade. E-mail to [email protected]. To see more of the Albuquerque Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.abqjournal.com. Copyright (c) 2007, Albuquerque Journal, N.M. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |