By Karen Base, SVP of Client Solutions
The State of the Federal Workforce
Attracting early-career talent to the federal government has become an increasingly difficult challenge, particularly after years of staff losses.
While agencies aim to broaden their workforce’s knowledge and expertise, they often prioritize filling senior-level roles that can immediately contribute to mission-critical tasks.
This leaves little room for early-career professionals, despite the growing need to future-proof the workforce.
According to a recent report, employees under 30 represented just over 7% of the federal workforce while they constituted nearly 20% of the employed U.S. labor force in 2023. Federal employees between the ages of 30 and 49 made up about half of the entire workforce. Over 42% of federal employees were over the age of 50, compared to nearly 33% of the U.S. labor workforce.
Programs like Pathways, designed to funnel young talent into federal roles, have faced difficulties due to challenges in funding and mentorship.
While well intentioned, the program has struggled to gain traction, with the mean for the percentage of Pathways Programs employees from FY2013 to FY2019 accounting for less than 1% of the total federal workforce.
In August of 2023, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) proposed updates to the Pathways regulations—the first since 2012—to address these gaps and help agencies better compete with the private sector for digitally native, problem-solving talent.
This is just one step towards the enormity of the challenge: If the federal government fails to attract young talent, it faces a catastrophic workforce collapse, with vital roles left unfilled, innovation stalling, and its ability to address national priorities critically undermined.
The Branding Problem: Why Young Talent Overlooks the Federal Government
Despite the government’s significant role in shaping national security, technology, and infrastructure, it often lags behind the private sector in attracting younger employees.
The allure of “sexy” tech companies offering flexible work environments, cutting-edge projects, and competitive salaries draws much of the digitally native workforce away from federal opportunities.
Younger generations, while not always mission-driven, are highly motivated by social value, particularly in areas like climate change and sustainability. Unfortunately, the government struggles to highlight its impact in these areas.
With the global AI-driven job market poised to create 97 million new roles by 2025, now is the time for federal agencies to rebrand the federal workforce for the future of work.
The Urgency for Transformation in the Federal Workforce
By 2030, 70% of all new jobs will require digital skills, yet many federal agencies struggle to attract the tech-savvy talent needed to fill these roles.
According to the GAO, strategic human capital management has been on the High-Risk List since 2001, and closing these gaps is critical to achieving its goals.
While upskilling and reskilling the existing federal workforce is essential to ensure seasoned employees can adapt to new technologies like automation, artificial intelligence, and cloud systems, the next generation of talent must still be a central focus.
Next generation, digitally native employees bring fresh perspectives, advanced problem-solving skills, and a strong grasp of emerging technologies that will be critical for driving innovation.
The federal government needs to strike a balance by strengthening its current workforce while also prioritizing the recruitment of new talent to meet both immediate and long-term challenges.
The clock is ticking for federal agencies to transform how they recruit, retain, and train their employees to ensure the continuity of services and their capacity to meet the challenges of tomorrow.
Challenges to Building the Workforce at Scale
Building the next-generation workforce at scale presents unique challenges.
The federal government faces steep competition from global workforce leaders in the private sector, especially in the technology space, where demand for younger employees outpaces supply. According to recent data, the global generative AI market is expected to grow from $10 billion in 2022 to $407 billion by 2027.
Additionally, navigating the rigid hiring processes and bureaucratic challenges of the public sector often dissuades younger candidates from exploring federal roles, creating a high barrier to entry.
The traditional reliance on degree-based qualifications can exclude many qualified candidates who possess the necessary skills but lack formal academic credentials.
A Shift to Skills-Based Hiring
As technology rapidly evolves, the government must prioritize skills-based hiring, focusing on competencies rather than just degrees. Research shows that 40-50% of IT roles such as network administrators and support specialists are filled by individuals without a bachelor’s degree in the private sector, yet only 12% of federal employees hold less than a bachelor’s.
By removing rigid education requirements and expanding pathways for those with non-traditional backgrounds, the federal government can open doors to a more diverse, capable, and digitally native workforce that can drive innovation and solve mission-critical problems.
The federal government is beginning to make strides toward skills-based hiring by reducing degree requirements and expanding the use of registered apprenticeships, as outlined in President Biden’s recent executive order. This initiative aims to bridge skills gaps by converting apprentices into full-time federal employees, prioritizing hands-on experience over formal education.
While these efforts are crucial, scaling them will require broader outreach and collaboration with strategic workforce development partners to cast a wider net and meet the pressing demand for skilled talent.
Strategies for Scaling the Workforce
To effectively scale the federal workforce, agencies need to broaden their talent acquisition and workforce development ecosystem, adopting a multi-pronged approach that leverages multiple solution providers.
Scalability is not a one-size-fits-all solution—it requires a combination of internal training programs, strategic partnerships, and specialized talent pipelines.
Providers like Fedstack, the Federal arm of Smoothstack, with their proven Talent Scaling Solutions, are key players in this broader ecosystem, offering customized training cohorts that can quickly deliver skilled workers. By diversifying talent acquisition strategies — partnering with educational institutions, private sector leaders, and workforce development organizations; focusing on active and passive pipelining activities and other innovative methods — the federal government can build a robust, adaptable talent pipeline that meets immediate and long-term needs.
This multi-faceted approach ensures the right mix of talent is available to handle the complexities of emerging technologies and mission-critical tasks.
This process reduces recruitment friction while offering cost-effective, skills-based solutions tailored to each agency’s mission.
Skills-Based Hiring
Focus on candidates’ competencies and problem-solving abilities rather than traditional degree-based qualifications. Skills-based hiring will allow agencies to attract younger, digitally native workers who possess the technical skills required to navigate the federal government’s growing reliance on technology.
Upskilling and Reskilling
Create an agile and comprehensive approach for continuous learning, where federal employees have access to training that allows them to stay at the cutting edge of technological advancements. Upskilling programs are vital to keeping the workforce competitive, especially as automation and AI disrupt the job market.
Young People Will Future-Proof the Workforce
The next generation of federal employees—Gen Z and Millennials—bring unique skills and perspectives that can future-proof the workforce. As digital natives, they possess an inherent familiarity with technology and the agility to adapt to new tools and environments quickly.
- Purpose-driven work: Over 75% of Millennials and Gen Z say they prioritize purpose and alignment with their values over salary when choosing a job
- Continuous learning and development: 94% of employees in this group say they would stay longer at a company that invests in their learning and development
- Digitally native: Millennials and Gen Z are the most digitally savvy generations. 70% of Gen Z actively uses generative AI technologies.
- Diversity and inclusion: 76% of Millennials consider a company’s diversity and inclusion practices when evaluating job offers, emphasizing the importance of workplace culture
Their problem-solving abilities, coupled with a preference for continuous learning, make them prime candidates for building a workforce capable of driving innovation.
Aligning federal mission goals with issues such as climate change, cybersecurity, and social justice can be a strong motivator to attract this generation to federal roles.
By providing clear pathways to career progression and the chance to impact large-scale national initiatives, the government can foster an environment where younger employees thrive.
Workforce Development Programs: A Federal Priority
Workforce development programs are not only an opportunity for federal agencies—they are a necessity. Firms like Fedstack, the Federal arm of Smoothstack, have invested in robust workforce development programs that combine hands-on training, upskilling, and mentorship to bridge the talent gap.
These programs emphasize diversity, accessibility, and the development of skills that are relevant to modern federal work, including cloud native development, data engineering, and cybersecurity.
By partnering with organizations like Fedstack, federal agencies can adopt scalable, flexible training programs that provide young professionals with the skills they need to succeed in the federal sector.
These programs also ensure that employees remain future-ready, continuously upskilling as new technologies emerge.
Conclusion: Investing in the Future of the Federal Workforce
The future of the federal workforce depends on the ability to attract, train, and retain younger, digitally native employees. Fedstack’s Talent Scaling Solutions offer a proven model for building a scalable workforce that meets today’s challenges and anticipates tomorrow’s needs.
By investing in skills-based hiring, flexible talent models, and innovative upskilling programs, federal agencies can ensure they have the right talent to lead them into the next generation.
To remain competitive in a fast-changing world, the federal government must not only embrace transformation but prioritize the development of its most important asset: its people.
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