Hiring leaps in public sector

[Wretched Excess]

well, thank God that we are still making dysfunctional little bureaucrats at a healthy rate.  I would hate to run short on
crabby ladies at the DMV.

interesting story, though, at least in regard to how gov't is always a year behind reality.

Hiring leaps in public sector
First-quarter gain most since 2002

Federal, state and local governments are hiring new workers at the fastest pace in six years, helping offset job losses in the private sector.

Governments added 76,800 jobs in the first three months of 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.

That's the biggest jump in first-quarter hiring since a boom in 2002 that followed the 9/11 terrorist attacks. By contrast, private companies collectively shed 286,000 workers in the first three months of 2008. That job loss has led many economists to declare the country is in a recession.

Job numbers for April, out Friday, will show if the trend is continuing. Some economists say a government hiring binge could soften a recession in the short term.

"Government jobs are an important cushion for the economy when the private sector falters," says North Carolina State University economist Michael Walden.

But the job expansion could later cause financial problems for governments that are spending too much.

"More hiring has nothing to do with good government or economic policy," says economist Kenneth Brown, research director at the Rio Grande Foundation in Albuquerque. "It has everything to do with government being slow to react to economic change."

Government hiring began to boom last year around July 1, when most state and local governments started new fiscal years. Those budgets were based on forecasts established in a strong economy. In each quarter since, the total government workforce has been the most in at least six years.

State and local governments have run deficits for the last nine months, the Commerce Department reports. Tax collections went flat in the middle of 2007, but spending has continued to rise.

The USA has nearly 88,000 units of government, mostly local, that employ 22 million. Hiring has been strong at every level, from new CIA spies to preschool teachers. Some of what's happening:

•The federal government increased its workforce by 13,800 in the first three months of 2008. Local governments added 47,000 and states 16,000.

•The Rochester, N.Y., school system added 289 teachers while the school population shrank by 1,300 students. It's part of a state-funded effort to reduce class size. New York City is adding 1,300 teachers. Florida and Texas are also hiring to reduce class size.

•The Texas city of Weatherford (pop. 25,000) added an assistant city manager, nine firefighters, three police officers and extra crews for roads and parks. "We have serious infrastructure issues that we need to get a handle on," City Manager Jennifer Fadden says.

Some states may cut hiring to save money. Governors have announced hiring freezes in California, Delaware, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey and New York, but the actions seldom trim total employment. Louisiana has hired 4,100 workers, mostly replacements, since a freeze began in January.

Link

[Lacarnut]

Hiring freezes are a joke according to my experience of civil service employment. The Gov. of LA will put on the dog for 6 months to a year and then the outrageous hiring will start up again. I could be wrong though. It is my understanding that governmental hiring clocked in at 17% while the private sector had a meager 4% increase in 2007.

[DixieBelle]

The govt badly needs qualified workers. My husband is a Fed and they are always looking for good people. Part of the problem is that the govt has used contractors for so long that they don't have enough Feds to spread around. They are so behind on implementing projects that have already been approved. Ah, the govt. So fun!

[NHSparky]

Someone should tell that to the HR manager over at Brown's Ferry in Alabama.  I interviewed for a job in March of 2006, was told I would be given an answer in a month, didn't get one until July, and then when I (truthfully) told them I had a competing offer, was told (and I quote directly), "Do what ya gotta do."

I've dealt with civilian government employees.  99 percent of them give the other 1 percent a bad name.

[DixieBelle]

Someone should tell that to the HR manager over at Brown's Ferry in Alabama.  I interviewed for a job in March of 2006, was told I would be given an answer in a month, didn't get one until July, and then when I (truthfully) told them I had a competing offer, was told (and I quote directly), "Do what ya gotta do."

I've dealt with civilian government employees.  99 percent of them give the other 1 percent a bad name.

Oh there's plenty of dead wood. I've seen it first hand. But there are also a lot of really good people who just want to do their job. Unfortunately, they are thwarted at every turn by idjits.

And OPM's hiring practices and the people that run them do leave a lot to be desired. At least that's my experience on the Federal level. My husband has had to wait months to get them to process applicants before he can even speak to them. There is a huge bottleneck there.

[Chris_]

Not lookng too good for state employees here.

State workers prepare for 'serious' layoffs

An unknown number of state employees will probably face layoffs as the administration cuts spending in the face of a souring state economy, Gov. Phil Bredesen said Wednesday.

There were no firm timetables or numbers available. Layoffs probably would come from departments that rely solely on state dollars — the governor said he did not expect cuts from K-12 education — otherwise, the jobs would be spread across departments, he said.

"I'm not talking about 20 people or something — I'm talking about some serious change in the number of people who are employed by the state," he said.

The news left some of the state's 47,000-plus workers worried.

"I'm kind of anxious to know what's going to happen myself," said A.C. Tulloss Jr., 68, a dentist with the state Health Department. "What keeps me from panicking is having 30-plus something years with the state."

They would be the first layoffs since 1995, during the administration of Republican Gov. Don Sundquist; previous layoffs had been in 1987, under Democratic Gov. Ned McWherter.

Bredesen said the state had more than $1 billion in various reserve funds but said he would not seek to dip into the state's so-called "rainy day fund," which was created to establish a financial buffer during downturns. It now contains more than $700 million.

"We're shocked that the governor has decided to reduce additional positions given that we have in excess of $750 million in the rainy day fund," said Jim Tucker, executive director of the Tennessee State Employees' Association. "He should consider this as a rainy day."

MORE

[Chris_]

Hiring freezes are a joke according to my experience of civil service employment. The Gov. of LA will put on the dog for 6 months to a year and then the outrageous hiring will start up again. I could be wrong though. It is my understanding that governmental hiring clocked in at 17% while the private sector had a meager 4% increase in 2007.

They did very real layoffs when I worked for the California State.  It was a big pain because of the complicated "bumping" rules across bargaining units.  I had to craft some very difficult layoff criteria to hang onto my best people.

[Lacarnut]

Hiring freezes are a joke according to my experience of civil service employment. The Gov. of LA will put on the dog for 6 months to a year and then the outrageous hiring will start up again. I could be wrong though. It is my understanding that governmental hiring clocked in at 17% while the private sector had a meager 4% increase in 2007.

They did very real layoffs when I worked for the California State.  It was a big pain because of the complicated "bumping" rules across bargaining units.  I had to craft some very difficult layoff criteria to hang onto my best people.

I went thru the bumping process; almost got axed but my hours of accounting  saved me. 6 months later, the state hired back some of the ones they had laid off.

[Flame]

Someone should tell that to the HR manager over at Brown's Ferry in Alabama.  I interviewed for a job in March of 2006, was told I would be given an answer in a month, didn't get one until July, and then when I (truthfully) told them I had a competing offer, was told (and I quote directly), "Do what ya gotta do."

I've dealt with civilian government employees.  99 percent of them give the other 1 percent a bad name.

Oh there's plenty of dead wood. I've seen it first hand. But there are also a lot of really good people who just want to do their job. Unfortunately, they are thwarted at every turn by idjits.

And OPM's hiring practices and the people that run them do leave a lot to be desired. At least that's my experience on the Federal level. My husband has had to wait months to get them to process applicants before he can even speak to them. There is a huge bottleneck there.

Good grief, aint that the truth.  The process is insanely long.  My other half is a "fed", and works his ass off to do the job right.  Wish I could say the say for 80% of his co-workers.