A Transportation Security Administration supervisor speaks with a person attending a job fair for employment with SoFi Stadium and Los Angeles International Airport employers, at SoFi Stadium on Sept. 9, 2021, in Inglewood, Calif. PPS’ survey involved 1,000 respondents and had quotas for sex, household income, political affiliation and race and ethnicity. PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
Young people think federal jobs are beneficial, but don't want them
There's a youth hiring problem in the federal government, but solutions are elusive, according to the Partnership for Public Service.
Most young people think a career in government is a way to have a positive impact but relatively few have actually considered such a career, according to new data from the Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan organization that works to make the U.S. bureaucracy more effective.
“A big gap to bridge for the federal government – in terms of perceptions of young people – is on hiring and potential participation of youth in the government workforce,” said Nadzeya Shutava, a research manager at PPS, during a webinar on Monday.
Sixty-seven percent of 18- to 34-year-olds surveyed by PPS in February agree that a federal career is an opportunity to improve their communities. But an almost equal amount -- 68% -- say that they’ve never considered pursuing a non-military federal job.
PPS’ survey involved 1,000 respondents and had quotas for sex, household income, political affiliation and race and ethnicity.
Katy Hogan, who oversees PPS’ internship and higher education programs, argued that many college students don’t know what a career in the federal government entails.
“I do think sometimes the story of what you can do in the federal government, specifically in the civil service, does not reach every student,” she said.
Most survey participants also say the federal government doesn’t communicate effectively with young people.
“One of my big surprises from this data was on communication because 69% is a very strong majority, and it really highlights that sentiment of disconnect between the young people in the country and the federal government,” Shutava said.
In a blog post last November, Shutava wrote that federal departments could use social media to build trust in the government and recruit younger workers. PPS survey data from September 2023 show that a majority of 18 to 24-year-olds find it either very or somewhat important for agencies to have a social media presence.
In particular, she highlighted the Instagram accounts of the Transportation Security Administration (@tsa) and National Park Service (@nationalparkservice), which both share informative as well as funny videos and other content.
TikTok, which is owned by a Chinese company, is one of the most popular social media platforms among young adults, according to the Pew Research Center. However federal employees have been prohibited from using the app on government-issued devices since 2023 over concerns that it could be used to facilitate data on U.S. users to the Chinese government.
This month President Joe Biden signed into law a bill to require TikTok’s parent company to sell the app to a U.S. entity within or year or cease operating in the U.S.
Speakers at Monday’s webinar discussed other factors that can deter young people from applying to federal jobs, such as simply finding openings and the length of the hiring process.
The Biden administration earlier this month announced new regulations for the federal government’s internship program with the aim of increasing recruitment of young people.
A survey of U.S. college students and recent graduates last year by the news website Axios and data intelligence company Generation Lab found that the federal government was the second-highest place where respondents wanted to work. Google was first.