Initiative targets retirees for second careers in government

A nonprofit advocacy group dedicated to encouraging young people to join the federal government has turned its eye toward the baby boom generation.

The Partnership for Public Service announced Wednesday the launch of an initiative to recruit private sector retirees into second careers in public service. Partnership officials say this could help address the impending wave of federal baby boomers leaving government after decades-long careers. Forty-two percent of senior executives in government are projected to retire by 2010.

Strategists want to build on two ideas: most baby boomers will be healthy after retirement and will want to continue working, and many will want a second chance to give back.

"Rocky Balboa is not the only 60-year-old looking for a challenge," Partnership President Max Stier said Wednesday at a news conference.

As it is, however, most federal executives worked their way up internally. Only 15 percent of GS-12 through GS-15 employees hired in fiscal 2003 came from outside the government.

The Partnership's plan for recruiting older civil servants is not yet fully formed. Working under a $250,000 grant from Atlantic Philanthropies, a foundation based in Bermuda that focuses in part on issues of aging, the Partnership is seeking to find out which agencies are hiring experienced employees, and about potential barriers for older workers entering government. Eventually, the project may push for the creation of a fellowship program for older Americans akin to the White House Fellows program.

Two federal employees who came to government late in their careers joined Stier at the press conference. John Emens went to the U.S. Export-Import Bank after retiring from a commercial banking job at Allfirst Bank. Ann Vande Vanter came to the Internal Revenue Service after 30 years as a private sector accountant. Both said their government jobs have turned out to be the most rewarding they've ever had.

"When I meet my maker I wanted to be able to [say I did] more than put more money in the pockets of millionaire executives," Vande Vanter said.

The Partnership initiative comes at a time when the government is seeking to move away from the traditional 9-to-5, office-bound, 30-year federal career. In June 2006, the Office of Personnel Management asked agencies to report on their flexibility with regard to unconventional work schedules, telecommuting, shorter tenures and career stage of new hires.