IT Jobs: Fed vs. Private Sector

The private sector is steps ahead of the federal government when it comes to overall job satisfaction as well as managing, training and rewarding employees, according to data from the 2010 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey.

The survey, released Monday, found that private sector employees are significantly more satisfied than federal employees with the training and advancement opportunities at their organizations. For example, 66 percent of private sector workers said they are satisfied with their opportunities to get a better job in their organization, compared to just 42 percent of federal workers. Sixty-six percent of private workers said they are satisfied with training programs, compared to 56 percent of federal employees, the survey found.

In addition, 73 percent of private sector workers said they feel encouraged to come up with new and better ways of doing things, compared to just 60 percent of federal employees.

To come up with the comparisons, the Office of Personnel Management took 14 questions from the 2010 federal employee survey and compared it with a set of private sector norms drawn from an average of data from large, primarily U.S. corporations.

Of the 14 questions, federal employees were ahead of their private sector counterparts in just one area - the opportunity to improve their skills. Sixty-six percent of federal employees said they are given the opportunity to boost their skills, compared with 65 percent of private sector workers, the survey found.

The results suggest that the federal government could have a difficult time competing with the private sector for key skills, particularly information technology talent. At the same time, however, the government offers perks - including valued missions, job security and generous benefits - that are not available in the private sector. What do you think?

Wired Workplace is a daily look at issues facing the federal information technology workforce. It is written by former Government Executive reporter Brittany Ballenstedt and published on Nextgov.com. Click here to read the latest entries.