Climbing the government ranks may not be happening as quickly as many public-sector workers would like. Seventy-one percent did not receive a promotion in 2006, and 36 percent feel they were overlooked for one. Forty-three percent of government workers say they are dissatisfied with their organizations’ overall career advancement opportunities and 45 percent are dissatisfied with the training and learning opportunities.
Nearly one-third of government workers surveyed (32 percent) expressed they are dissatisfied with their salaries. Nearly one-in-ten (7 percent) did not receive a raise this year, and of those who did, 80 percent earned an extra 3 percent or less. Seventy-six percent did not receive a bonus.
Likely a further frustration for government workers is the perception they are working longer hours without additional pay. Fifty-four percent of government employees say their workload is heavier than it was six months ago, and 29 percent report dissatisfaction with their overall work/life balance.
"Government employers are in a precarious position as their workforce rapidly shifts toward older age brackets," said Stanley Paul, general manager of CareerBuilder.com’s government services division. "According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 50- to 59-year-olds make up one-third of the full-time, permanent federal workforce. To mitigate the loss of talent as the baby boomers retire, government organizations are increasingly offering incentives to workers approaching retirement age to prolong their careers."
Survey Methodology This survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 116 government workers (employed full-time; not self employed), ages 18 and over within the United States between November 17 and December 11, 2006. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.
With a pure probability sample of 116 one could say with a ninety-five percent probability that the overall results would have a sampling error of +/-10 percentage points. Sampling error for data from subsamples would be higher and may vary. However that does not take other sources of error into account. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
About CareerBuilder.com
CareerBuilder.com is the nation's largest online job site with more than 23 million unique visitors and over 1.5 million jobs. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), Tribune Company (NYSE:TRB), and The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI), the company offers a vast online and print network to help job seekers connect with employers. CareerBuilder.com powers the career centers for more than 1,100 partners that reach national, local, industry and niche audiences. These include more than 150 newspapers and leading portals such as America Online and MSN. More than 250,000 employers take advantage of CareerBuilder.com's easy job postings, 19 million-plus resumes, Diversity Channel and more. Millions of job seekers visit the site every month to search for opportunities by industry, location, company and job type, sign up for automatic email job alerts, and get advice on job hunting and career management. For more information about CareerBuilder.com products and services, visit http://www.careerbuilder.com.
CareerBuilder Media Contact
For all media inquiries and interview requests, contact:
Jennifer Grasz
(P) 773-527-1164
(E) jennifer.grasz@careerbuilder.com