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Hard times give government jobs greater allure
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-02 14:12 TUCSON, Arizona – Thamayya Dobbs works at a call center in Arizona. But in the current economy, he says he is thinking very hard about retraining as a US Border Patrol agent.
"There's more job security, stability for my family," said Dobbs, 35, as he visited a US Customs and Border Protection recruitment fair in Tucson this weekend.
In the current downturn, those jobs have a special allure. Thousands of people turned out for the agency's 15 "National Career Day" hiring events from California to Florida on Saturday, to find out about retraining as border police officers or working in support roles such as mechanics, program analysts and information technology specialists. In Tucson alone, 800 people flocked to the hiring event in just the first three hours. While the jobs on offer are statistically a drop in the bucket at a time when the broader US economy has lost more than 210,000 jobs since the start of the year, they highlight the appeal of working for the federal government at a time of economic uncertainty. "At Customs and Border Protection, we offer very good career opportunities within one agency, and all under the one premise of securing America," spokeswoman Tara Dunlop told Reuters. "As federal (government) positions, the conditions are also very good and the salaries very competitive, with very competitive benefits," she added. JOBS THAT LAST The recruitment events came at the end of a particularly bleak week for jobs in the United States, where companies including Sprint, Home Depot, Caterpillar, Texas Instruments and Eastman Kodak Co announced they would slash more than 60,000 jobs. In addition, the latest figures showed the US economy shrinking at its fastest rate in 27 years, and the number of Americans seeking jobless benefits hitting a high. Amid the carnage, government has been one of only a few sectors in the US economy continuing to hire in recent months. It added 181,000 employees to the payroll during 2008. Analysts caution that many of those jobs may also be in jeopardy in coming months as state and local authorities, facing shrinking revenues, try to balance their books. But federal jobs such as those offered by Customs and Border Protection -- paying $35,000 to $80,000 with health care and a full pension -- are likely to be safe, and have a growing appeal for both the unemployed and those with jobs -- like Dobbs -- who are looking for greater stability. "If you have a choice between jobs, you will probably very much try and pick one that will have some durability, that will last," said Susan Houseman, a labor expert at the Upjohn Institute in Michigan. "Federal government jobs would be kind of the gold standard. A federal job would be very stable." GENERATIONAL SHIFT US President Barack Obama has set a mid-February target for Congress to pass an economic stimulus bill with more than $800 billion in tax cuts and spending. The Democratic president's advisers say it could create 3.7 million jobs by the close of 2010, through a mix of tax cuts and spending on infrastructure such as road building, among other areas. In another measure aimed at boosting job security, Obama signed three executive orders on Friday to bolster unions in the workplace and increase workers' rights, reversing labor policies of his predecessor, Republican George W. Bush. As Washington seizes the initiative on the economy, labor analysts say working for the government may also gain a certain sparkle that was missing before, when Wall Street boomed, banks readily lent money and the private sector flourished. "Part of it is that (federal government jobs offer) a safe port in a storm ... but there's also a cultural and generational shift," said Alec Levenson, a labor economist at the Center for Effective Organizations at the University of Southern California. "Before, in many ways working for the federal government was kind of demeaned. But the federal government is going to end up playing a much more critical role in stabilizing the economy and thinking about the changes we face as a society," he added. "At this time, government looks like it's the only thing that's sustainable," distribution firm worker Michael Derby said as he strolled around the job fair. "It's not going anywhere any time soon. |
