Gen Y Rescues the Fed
Many of our largest clients are federal government agencies. They include the Internal Revenue Service, the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, and all branches of the military. As different as each agency and their respective employees can be, they all share one startling characteristic: their employees are amongst the oldest in the country.
Thankfully though, the situation isn't as dire as it might first appear. Although the oldest Baby Boomers are now able to draw Social Security benefits and therefore retire, there is growing consensus amongst those of us who are fascinated by generational trends that many and perhaps most Baby Boomers will not actually retire but will instead change who they work for, how much they work, and what work they do. Rather than busting their butts to get a promotion, they'll work reduced hours or perhaps even work seasonally. They'll do work that fulfills their emotions rather than fills their pocketbooks. And they'll be joined by Gen Y.
Gen Y work for the federal government? Some would say that's just ludicrous as Gen Y is known for its desire to make a meaningful contribution and to have significant control over the work they do, where they do it, how they do it, how many hours they put in to get the work done, and more. None of those characteristics scream "federal government job" to anyone. Yet studies are showing that a significant percentage of Gen Y wants to work for the federal government. So what gives?
The reason, I believe, is that while many Gen Y'ers want to make a significant contribution from day one, many also highly value work/life balance and financial security and those goals are much easier to accomplish working for the government than they are for a corporation.
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