Introduction: Workforce demographics The changing face of the government workforce

Over the last decade, a number of events—from the war or terrorism and the great recession to the austerity measures enacted in a number of countries—have, together with broader demographic shifts, impacted the outlines of government workforces around the world.

In the United States, for example, the size of the federal workforce has grown significantly, but nearly all of that growth has been war-related, with the lion’s share of it concentrated in defense and veterans affairs agencies. Globally, jobs concerned with public administration and defense now represent a larger slice of the government workforce than what used to be the largest category, jobs concerned with health and social welfare.

An alarming trend in the US government workforce is the way it is aging. As droves of Baby Boomers reach retirement age, agencies are having a hard time finding fresh faces to take their place.

One area where government has outperformed the private sector is gender equity. While female labor representation inched upwards in both the public and private sectors in recent years, this growth has been faster in the government sector.

Moreover, even as women claim a larger role in government agencies around the world, the public sector workplace is growing more diverse in multiple ways. One of the most interesting new developments is the movement to welcome employees who represent diverse ways of thinking. A new focus on diversity of thought is the inevitable result of increased pluralism and connectivity in the 21st century. Policies designed to hire, facilitate, and encourage diversity of thought can help organizations find much-needed expertise.

Browse this set of articles to explore some of the changes in the size, shape, composition, and cost of government workforces over the last decade and the implications of those changes.