GovernmentExecutive.com

The federal government Monday launched its first television campaign aimed at recruiting new workers into the civil service.

Linda Springer, director of the Office of Personnel Management, unveiled four advertisements to members of the press in Washington, D.C. The TV spots feature government workers on the job and direct viewers to USAJOBS.gov, OPM's centralized job search Web site.

Springer said the campaign is an effort to counteract the large number of federal retirements expected over the next 10 years -- a figure she put at 40 percent of the workforce.

"That's a fact," Springer said. "It's not a projection; it's not looking into a crystal ball or a Ouija board. We're not being overly dramatic here."

The ads will initially air in the Greenville, S.C., and Flint, Mich., areas, where Springer said there are large numbers of 20- to 24-year-old job seekers, many college graduates, high overall unemployment rates and low advertising costs.

The ads, produced in-house by government and military employees, cost $100,000 to create; OPM will spend $84,000 to run them in the two markets for two weeks. They will eventually spread across the country, Springer said.

Featured in the commercials are Elizabeth Mazzae, an engineer at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; Maxine Brown, chief of the Systems Integration Branch at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Walter Douglas, a conservationist in the Agriculture Department; and Earl Stockdale, chief counsel for the Army Corps of Engineers.

"The four people, the stars, are typical," Springer said. "It's not fake. It's not phony. It's real."

She told reporters OPM is not setting a goal for the number of employees hired as a result of the campaign, or even the number of hits to the USAJOBS.gov Web site. She also said there is no focus on particular agencies that may need the infusion of employees more, in part because she encourages workers to move among agencies in the span of their government service.

"It isn't a numbers game," Springer said. "It's finding the right people."

The personnel agency ultimately will use other media, such as the Web, for the campaign, Springer said.

She added that her agency also is focusing on encouraging federal employees close to retirement to stay longer. She pointed to President Bush's proposal in the fiscal 2007 budget to eliminate a penalty for employees under the Civil Service Retirement System who move to part-time employment.

"When the time comes, great," Springer said. "But don't rush into it."

She said many employees plan to leave federal service when they retire and go to work for a government contractor, which will make competition for those jobs tough.

"The better thing to do is stay," she said.

COMMENTS

• Go ahead and sign up! Sign up for 30 years of job security. Sign up for a great retirement plan. Sign up for medical and life insurance plan which will carry over into retirement. Sign up for peace of mind knowing your job will always be there for you. Because you are a hard worker and need not fear ever losing your income or retirement benefits. Sign up for your children's future including paying for their college education. Go ahead! Take a chance if you dare! For the government will tell you all you want to hear and then 20 years into a 30-year career rip the rug right from under your feet. Beware of outsourcing and privatization -- it is here now and it is the future for government jobs. Why would you want to work for 20 years to lose your pension and medical benefits to outsourcing? M. Stain Posted May 27, 2006 10:19 AM
• "...focusing on encouraging federal employees close to retirement to stay longer..." Huh? Does Linda Springer work for the same government that I do? Up until about four years ago I had planned to work until I was 62, maybe longer. I was (and still am) healthy and I had enjoyed my work and done well at it. Then, about four years ago, things started to change. I began to notice that I wasn't getting many of the meatier assignments anymore. I also had applied for several promotions within my unit and was among the top three or top five candidates every time, but was never selected. The last time was for a job that I'd done for over a year and for which I'd even received an award. Finally, one supervisor who usually sits on the selection boards told me -- not for attribution, of course -- that I wasn't getting selected because "management wants to go in a different direction." Huh? Someone with my qualifications is what they had asked for in the JOA. He then confirmed to me that this meant management wanted to hire/promote younger people. At first I wondered if this was just something going on in my unit but after checking with friends in other areas, it seems to be the trend throughout the agency. Non-management personnel in my age cohort were/are routinely losing out on important work assignments and promotion to younger workers, even if the younger worker is not as qualified. Maybe Linda Springer and her ilk should come down out of their cloud and look into how older workers are really treated on the job before they make fatuous remarks like it's better just to stay. Next year, I'm outta here! FedBlue Posted May 18, 2006 11:25 PM
• Folks, I feel sorry for all of you, but at least they didn't send you a letter telling you that "due to your disability, we do not find you suitable for employment." Charlie Posted May 16, 2006 12:38 PM