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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

opinion

COLUMN: Millennials working hard for Uncle Sam

Millennials want jobs. We’re the generation that grew up during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression and also the generation that holds a higher number of college degrees than any other generation of young people past. In March, the unemployment rate for people aged 16-24 was at 12.3 percent while the overall rate for the country was at 5.5 percent.

Amongst the doom and gloom, however, there’s a field that’s desperate for a younger, highly educated talent pool which Generation Y seems to be purposely ignoring: the federal workforce.

According the Washington Post, only 7 percent of the federal workforce is under the age of 30. To use the words of American folk hero and U.S. Vice President Joseph R. Biden, “This is a big fucking deal.”

That’s because it’s only a matter of time before the coming wave of baby boomer retirements hits and leaves hundreds if not thousands of vacancies in the federal civil service.

It’s almost strange to think Millennials are aching for jobs, yet we’re not reaching for the ones that are right in front us. Surprisingly or unsurprisingly enough, it’s not entirely our fault.

Constant budget cuts, budget freezes, government shutdowns, being accused of trying to destroy America by right-wing politicians, etc. has all taken its toll on the attractiveness of working for Uncle Sam. Even the word “bureaucrat” is a dirty word.

Federal workers are the people the Ted Cruzes and Rush Limbaughs of the America love to go after, constantly demonizing them and their work despite the fact they’re the people that keep our government alive.

The agencies themselves have some blame to share as well. Agency executives often see recruitment as a distant task purely for human resources rather than a critical need for their ?respective agencies.

Recruitment training across agencies isn’t consistent. Budget cuts have slowed the hiring process. And the Pathways Internship Program — federal government’s centralized internship program designed to funnel college students into the federal workforce — is hard to navigate, often unpaid, faceless and extremely impersonal.

Who wants to work ?like that?

According to the White House’s fact sheet on Millennials, our generation genuinely values the role we play in our communities. We want to contribute to society. And we want creativity in our work.

In short, our generation is made up of Leslie Knopes — we just don’t realize it.

Federal agencies can’t continue to expect that Millennials will flock to them. They have to come to us, or at the very least meet us halfway. Agencies also need to better articulate how working in the civil service matters and how by doing so, you’re making decisions or doing work that literally affects the lives of millions of people.

Better salaries would be nice. But if there’s one thing that will get Millennials through the door, it’s the promise of making ?a difference.

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