Survey Reveals the Best Jobs in the Federal Government
Dec. 12, 2008
Richard Kaplan--HispanicBusiness.com
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Are you thinking about the federal government as a possible place of employment? You know that the American economy is shedding jobs at a stunning rate. More than half a million jobs were eliminated nationwide in the month of November alone. A career with the federal government may well be the best way to seek refuge. The national government has more than 1.7 million jobs and approximately 400 occupational specialties. But which agency is best to work for?
Fortunately, information on the most desirable jobs in the best departments, the ones that offer the most worker satisfaction, is readily available. Every two years, government employees are surveyed by researchers at the American University in Washington, D.C. The survey is known as "Best Places to Work," and in 2007, it asked more than 221,000 government employees what they liked about their workplace and why. The study breaks down the answers by many categories, including minority group.
Amid the many agencies, one in particular stood out by garnering top scores from employees. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission was deemed best of its class on a variety of measurements. When it came to judging government agencies on whether they "rewarded and promoted employees in a fair and timely manner for their performance and contributions," the NRC led the list. It was followed by the space agency NASA, the Department of State, Department of Commerce and the Department of Treasury.
Workers were also surveyed on government agency support for diversity. This question gauged whether the agency "management promoted and respected diversity" in the workforce. The NRC, which employs 3,000 worker, again scored high marks, heading the list. It was closely trailed by NASA, the State Department and the Agricultural Department.
When it came to Hispanic workers, the most appreciated agency was NASA, which earned an impressively high 79.1 overall score. NASA employs more than 17,000 workers of which 5 percent are Hispanic. It was followed by the Government Accounting Office and the Social Security Administration.
For African Americans, the NRC was deemed the best work environment. NRC scored 74.5 points and was followed by the GAO and the Social Security Administration in most-favored departments. The NRC has a workforce of 3,000 plus of which 13 percent is African American.
Asian Americans were most happy with the working condition in the Treasury Department, which earned an impressively high 79.4 rating. Asian Americans comprise 3.9 percent of the Treasury's 100,000 personnel. That department was followed in the rankings by the Security Exchange Commission and the Government Service Administration.
The Treasury was also the most-preferred department for Native Americans, followed by the Transportation Department and the Department of Agriculture. Native Americans gave the Treasury a 71.3 score and were 0.8 percent of its employees.
If your concern instead is balancing work and home and caring for family, then perhaps the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is your government agency of choice. The survey considered the "family friendly culture" of each department and evaluated whether the government office helped families by offering telecommuting and alternative work scheduling, along with benefits like child care subsidies and wellness programs. The FDIC, which employs about 4,000, earned a high score of 63.5 and was followed by NASA and the NRC.
The complete list of rankings can be found here.
The federal government has developed a complete Web site to facilitate and process job seekers. That site is located at www.usajobs.gov
Source: HispanicBusiness.com (c) 2008. All rights reserved.
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