Federal News Radio
Federal government as an employer -- Is the glass half full or half empty?
Monday - 5/5/2014
Commentary by Jeff Neal

This column was originally published on Jeff Neal's blog, ChiefHRO.com, and was republished here with permission from the author.

Now that OPM is sending out the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, it is a good time to talk about the government as an employer. The U.S. government has its share of critics — both inside and out. We also talk about how federal employees have been treated in recent years, with pay freezes, fed- bashing, complaints about bonuses, and the never-ending debate over federal pay. Add a dose of furloughs and shutdowns, and it is easy to conclude the glass is half empty. Being a federal employee stinks. Anyone with any sense would bail as soon as they can. But, is that really true? Is Uncle Sam a lousy employer?

I think the answer is fairly clear. While it is probably not a model employer, for a lot of reasons the U.S. government is a very good employer. Here are a few reasons why I believe that is true:

Job security. Although government has been downsizing a bit in the last couple of years, there have been no widespread reductions in force. Even though the furloughs last year were disruptive and certainly not indicative of a model employer, the government did make good on its obligations to the people who were furloughed through no fault of their own and provided back pay. Overall, the likelihood of being laid off (or even fired for poor performance) is not very great. Federal employees generally do not go to bed at night wondering if their job will be there tomorrow, or if their employer will suffer as the result of an economic downturn. The U,S. government is still one of the most stable institutions on the planet.

Mission. Being a federal employee means you get to support our troops, forecast the weather, protect intellectual property rights, ensure Social Security benefits get to the people who earned them, protect our borders, protect the environment, preserve vast stretches of public land, operate and preserve our National Parks and Monuments, promote and ensure our economic well-being, conduct diplomacy, ensure the safety of nuclear materials, explore space and our oceans, strengthen our communities, promote education, ensure food safety, strengthen our agricultural community, collect the revenue needed to sustain the government, and countless other vital missions. Virtually every agency of the federal government has a mission its employees can be proud to support.

Equal employment opportunity. The government has been a leader for many years in promoting and providing equal employment opportunity. It is not perfect — the number of minority employees in higher graded jobs is still below their representation in the workforce and in our society in general — but the government has made great strides in providing equal opportunity regardless of age, race, ethnicity, gender, religion disability, genetic makeup or sexual orientation. Time and time again, the government has taken the lead in protecting its workforce from decisions that are not based on merit...

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