Government, military have no shortage of jobs
President Barack Obama's budget plan would create thousands of positions.
Published March 17, 2009
With the country's economic woes in full swing, it is no surprise that most companies are downsizing their infrastructure and cutting costs and employees to cope with losses. However, contrary to this trend, more and more government jobs are opening up.
President Barack Obama's $3.606 trillion budget plan, unveiled Feb. 26, focuses spending to aid research for alternate energy supplies, health care and education and services for veterans. To cope with the expansion of government programs allowed by the budget plan, between 10,000 and 250,000 jobs could be created.
The plan calls for improvements to existing government programs, and also takes into account costs for the remaining 18 months of the U.S. presence in Iraq, scheduled to end in 2011.
Officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs estimate that more than 17,000 new employees will be hired by the end of the year, while the Social Security Administration's budget will increase by 10 percent as a result of the plan, expanding jobs at local branches around the country.
"Probably the biggest area that the government is looking to expand is in acquisition management and logistics," U.S. General Services Administration spokesman Tobi Edler said. "There is a desperate need for contracting officers, people who are able to purchase things efficiently and contractors. Apprenticeships and manual labor will be key to the expansion of the government. The plan is to have the infrastructure of the government booming in the next couple of years."
Government jobs might be ideal for recent college graduates as well. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, government employers have adjusted their hiring projections upward to an increase of nearly 20 percent, and that 72.7 percent of government jobs are planning salary increases to bachelor's degree candidates.
MU Career Center program director Amanda Nell said government jobs are offering what many jobs today cannot.
Government jobs offer more job security than corporate jobs, where salaries are either flat or declining, whereas the government is doing the opposite, Nell said. People are retiring from the government at a huge rate, and the government is planning to expand.
Nell said that no matter what degree college students obtain, there is something to do for the government.
A liberal arts degree can land you a job with the Department of Defense, Nell said. She also said that government jobs usually offer health insurance and competitive pay.
"A more recent trend I've seen is the waiving of student loans to fresh college graduates who are employed by the government," she said.
Nell said that all government jobs, by law, are advertised publicly and that good resources to find the jobs are Web sites such as USAJobs.gov, MakingTheDiffernence.org and Monster.com.
The military is also seeing an increase in its recruiting numbers.
Staff Sgt. Patrick Lavin, a U.S. Marine Corps recruiter in Columbia, said he has noticed a rise of interest in military jobs.
"I think a big factor in the rise of recruitment is the economy," Lavin said. "Even college graduates are struggling to find a steady job, and young people are starting to realize that through any branch of the military, job security isn't really an issue."
On March 10, the U.S. Department of Defense reported that all four active branches and all six reserve branches of the military met or exceeded their recruiting goals in February.
