“… According to a Partnership for Public Service analysis of Office of Personnel Management data, there were a little more than 2.1 million full-time and part-time federal employees in 2020, or about 0.6% of the U.S. population.”
“You can see how the federal workforce as a percentage of the U.S. population has stayed well below 1% since 1980.”
“Compare today’s figures with those from 1945, the last year of World War II. The federal workforce consisted of nearly 3.4 million people, or 2.4% of the U.S. population.”
“Comparisons have been drawn between a global pandemic and war. Uncle Sam has about 1 million fewer people working for it today than it did during World War II…”
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lost about 1,000 employees between September and December last year, according to the Partnership’s analysis.”
“The National Institutes of Health saw similar staffing losses.”
“This all comes as the Biden administration delivers a preview of next year’s budget request to Congress, and it calls for big-time increases at many civilian agencies.”
“The administration said it’s an attempt to rebuild capacity at organizations that have been strapped by Budget Control Act caps over the last decade. It pointed to the NIHs and CDCs of the world as examples.”
“Is the federal workforce due for a big growth spurt?”
“Well, it’s a little too early to tell. No president gets everything he wants in his budget proposal, and Congress makes sure of that. The Trump administration tried to slash the size of civilian agencies, and though the federal workforce did shrink in some areas, data shows it grew in others.”
“It’s still unclear what Biden’s budget means for the size of the federal workforce. But it’s fair to say it probably won’t match the World War II era, or anywhere close.” Read the full article here.
Source: Is the federal workforce due for a big growth spurt? – By Nicole Ogrysko, June 14, 2021. Federal News Network.
