Job Reviews
Government Jobs
Civil Service Jobs are provided at the federal, state and local government levels. The federal government is the largest single employer in the United States. The largest government agencies based, on employees, are the federal Department of Defense (including all branches of the armed forces), Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Homeland Security, Treasury Department and the Department of Justice.
Government contractors include large corporations such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin, healthcare companies, academic institutions and tens of thousands of smaller companies. State and local governments spend money on a variety of contracts, particularly those related to major capital projects including highways, bridges and public buildings.
Government Employment - Employer Reviews
- California State Department of Education Careers
- City of Boston Careers
- City of Dallas Careers
- City of Greenwood Village Careers
- City of Long Beach Careers
- City of Peabody Careers
- City of Philadelphia Careers
- Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control Careers
- Department of Commerce Careers
- Department of Justice Careers
- Department of Mental Health, MA Careers
- Department of Social Services Careers
- Dept of Public Instruction, North Carolina Careers
- East Orange Police Department Careers
- Gainesville Regional Utilities Careers
- Georgia Department of Transportation Careers
- Indiana Department of Child Services Careers
- Indigent Defense Commission Careers
- Lake County Housing Authority Careers
- Library of Cincinnati Careers
- Looscan Public Library Careers
- Mattoon Public Library Careers
- Mississippi Office of the State Auditor Careers
- Missouri Department of Revenue Careers
- Monroe County Sheriffs Office Careers
- National Park Service Careers
- Nebraska State Patrol Careers
- New York City Transit Careers
- New York Public Library Careers
- New York State Department of Taxation Careers
- NYC Department of Education Careers
- NYC Department of Taxation and Finance Careers
- Office of Mental Health Careers
- Placer County Sheriffs Department Careers
- Santa Barbara County Careers
- Social Security Administration Careers
- St Joseph County Public Library Careers
- State of Arizona Careers
- State of California Careers
- State of Michigan Careers
- State of Ohio Attorney Generals Office Careers
- Superior Court of California Careers
- Union County Public Library Careers
- United States Postal Service Careers
- US Census Bureau Careers
- US Forest Service Careers
- Veterans Affairs Careers
- West Florida Regional Library Careers
- The US government services sector has approximately 150,000 federal, state and local government entities with a combined budget of approximately 7 trillion (First Research, 2011 report)
- Collectively, expenditures for the over 19,000 US municipalities, 16,500 towns and townships, and 3,000 county governments are about $3 trillion (First Research, 2011 report)
- The 100 largest federal contractors account for over 70 percent of contract spending (First Research, 2011 report)
- Total federal government estimated expenditures in 2010 was 3.552 trillion (2010 Financial Report of the United States Government)
- In 2010, the U.S. government spent about $450 billion on contracts to buy goods and services including about $280 billion for defense-related items (First Research, 2011 report)
Government Sector Employment Background
The Federal government employs people in every major occupational group. The federal government has a much higher proportion of professional, management, business and financial employees when compared with all the other industries combined.
Business and financial occupations in the federal government include accountants, auditors, management analysts, compliance officers, tax examiners, collectors and revenue agents.
The largest group of professional workers in the federal government are in health care practitioner and technical occupations; life, physical, and social science occupations; and architecture and engineering occupations.
Office and administrative support occupations in governments include financial clerks, information and record clerks, secretaries, administrative assistants and more.
Governments also employ people in service occupations; installation, maintenance and repair occupations; transportation and construction
Government Sector Employment Statistics
- In 2008, there were about 1,909 (in thousands) federal employees, except U.S. Postal Service workers and those working in the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency
- About 652 (in thousands) Defense (total) jobs in 2008
- Approximately 108 (in thousands) justice jobs in 2008
- In 2008, the highest percentage of federal jobs were in management, business and financial jobs (33.7%) and professional and related jobs had the second highest percentage of jobs (33.2%)
- In 2010 (all 50 states): 2,296,690 state government jobs and 5,593,970 local government jobs
- In 2010 (all 50 states): 124,750 state government management jobs and 282,610 local government jobs
- In 2010 (all 50 states): 244,780 business and financial operations state government level jobs and 234,070 local government level jobs
- In 2010 (all 50 states): 76,470 computer and mathematical state government level jobs and 74,540 local government level jobs
(Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Government Sector Employment Outlook
The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects a substantial number of federal government jobs will be available because many federal workers are expected to retire during the decade. The BLS forecasts a 10 percent employment growth in federal government jobs from 2008 to 2018 which is close to the 11 percent employment growth rate for all industries combined. The BLS expects demand will be especially strong for specialized workers in fields related to information security, public health, law enforcement, scientific research and financial services.
Most of the job growth in state and local governments is expected to be in finance, legal and planning related careers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, from 2006 to 2016 the following jobs are expected to have the strongest growth in state and local governments. The numbers shows the percent increase in employment:
- Lawyer: 27.6
- Criminal investigator/detective: 19.8
- Accountant/auditor: 16.1
- Correctional officer: 10.9
- Computer specialist: 12.7
- EMS Dispatcher: 12.5
- Waste Management Operator: 12.1
- Firefighter: 12.1