The government is desperate. It’s alarmingly short of talented police officers, food inspectors, prison guards, airport screeners, border patrol agents, and immigration analysts, among other positions.
That means that as with most industries in our country, hiring is hot news. In fact, there are approximately 193,000 mission-critical jobs that need to be filled in the next two years, including 62,863 security and law enforcement related jobs.
This data is courtesy of a new report, “Where the Jobs Are: Mission Critical Opportunities for America,” which says the number of compliance and enforcement hires is up nearly four-fold compared to 2005 figures — and include 27,243 new border patrol agents, customs officers, immigration agents, food inspectors, criminal investigators, and airport screeners.
The Partnership for Public Service says its report outlines government-wide projected hiring needs through 2009, based on a survey of 34 federal agencies representing nearly 99% of the federal workforce.
According to the report, there are two key factors involved in these projections.
First, the report says, is the need to keep Americans safe. More than 83,000 jobs need to be filled at agencies charged with protecting and securing the nation, which includes 47,897 jobs at the Department of Homeland Security and 35,505 jobs at the Department of Defense.
Second is the need to replace retiring federal workers. The government estimates that nearly one-third of the 1.6 million full-time federal workforce is expected to retire or resign in the next five years.
A Breakdown of the Hiring
In other sectors of the government, hiring needs include the following: