There are various reasons people choose to work for the federal government. One that is frequently mentioned is employment stability. Unlike the private sector, which is often subject to sudden job losses, federal employment has always been seen as providing more stability. There are statutes, rules, and collective bargaining provisions that govern federal government downsizing and provide for the fair treatment of employees who are subject to RIF or other downsizing. There are no such protections for employees subject to a private sector downsizing. While there are RIFs and downsizings in the federal government, they have in the past usually not been as extreme as can take place in the private sector.
There are also many statutes and regulations that protect an individual federal employee’s employment status. If a federal manager takes what the employee feels is an unjust action against an employee, the employee, if in a union, has the right to seek redress through a union contract-provided grievance-arbitration process.
All federal employees, whether in a union or not, have the right to file an appeal for an employment action with the Merit Systems Protection Board. In the private sector, if an employee is represented by a union, they likewise have available grievance arbitration procedures. However, in the private sector, there is no equivalent to the MSPB.
Many people choose the federal government because of the great number of opportunities to do research in their chosen specialty. Federal government research covers a vast spectrum of research areas. Everything from biological and pure health science areas to research on making workplaces safer for employees and the development of first strike capabilities to protect our country. There are so many areas, it is difficult to enumerate them all. Government research has led to the United States being at the forefront of innovation around the world.
If a prospective employee is interested in making a top salary in his field of expertise, the employee will not necessarily find it in the federal government. The Federal Salary Council found that in 2024, federal employees earned 24.72% less on average than private sector employees in similar jobs. There are other studies that show a greater disparity or a lesser one. However, there are few, if any, that show federal employees making more than the private sector.
There are studies that show the total package of salaries plus benefits for certain types of federal jobs may be higher than for equivalent jobs in the private sector. While the salaries may be lower, the total compensation package improves the federal-private sector pay parity.
Many federal employees like what they do because they think it is important. A sense of mission and purpose is often cited by federal employees for why they work for the federal government. Giving back can be a satisfying approach for many to what they do for a living.
There are certain stereotypes of federal employees held by a proportion of the population and people in positions of political influence. It has been said that federal employees are lazy and do not really earn their pay. It is too hard to fire them, so they stay in their jobs forever without any appreciable improvement in what they produce for the government.
They advance their own political agendas without regard to what the Administration in office is trying to accomplish. As described by one political party, they are the “Deep State,” intent on carrying out their own agenda. In many ways, they are portrayed more negatively than in previous times. They are looked at more as a cost than an asset.
Some of what were thought of as benefits of being a federal employee are on the cusp of changing quite significantly. The benefits that federal employees receive, which act to lessen the impact of lower wages, may soon be reduced.
As an example, the retirement benefits that federal employees have enjoyed for years could soon be significantly reduced. The appeals systems that protected federal employees from unfair acts of management are being curtailed. Many employees no longer have the right to use the grievance procedure in a collective bargaining agreement to protest acts of management. A substantial number of federal employees will be placed in positions that will deny them the right to contest an unfair firing before MSPB. At-will employment may become a common approach in the federal sector. Numerous research projects have been slashed, doing away with the jobs of scientists and other researchers. All these changes are coming fast and furious.
Many of these actions are on appeal on behalf of employees, to the federal courts, with some receiving favorable treatment at the District Court level. However, all such decisions may be appealed to the Federal Courts of Appeal and potentially the Supreme Court. The outcome of all this litigation is uncertain. The one thing that is certain is that the appeals will take time to be resolved.
Is being a federal employee a good career choice?
With all the changes coming and those that have already arrived, some employees have taken deferred resignation rather than continuing their federal employment. Many probationary employees have had no choice but to be simply eliminated. Others are now going through reductions in force because of downsizing.
Are all the changes coming going to make a better civil service or just a more privatized version of what used to be? A year ago, I would have told anyone contemplating becoming a federal employee that it was a good choice. Now with all the changes and uncertainty with more to come, it’s still a good choice, but maybe not as good as it has been in the past.
