Critical Incidents

Subject: Recommendations on improving the limited labor policy success faced in the federal government

As the Director of OPM, I am certain that you are familiar with the ongoing shift in the labor market both in the United States as well as the outside world. It is safe to say that the labor market is usually tied to the demographic shifts around the world, including the rise and fall in birth rates, greater longevity, and medical as well as industrial advancements.

With the medical and industrial advancements the United States has achieved over the course of the last 5 decades, the life expectancy rate has seen a steady increase, going from 69 years in 1963 to 79 years in 2015[footnoteRef:1]. The rise in technology just in the last two decades has been exponential. Combine this with the globalization and the entrance of a diverse workforce into the United States, and everything translates to a big shift in the labor market. [1: G. I. (n.d.). Population Data. Retrieved July 1, 2018, from https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=kf7tgg1uo9ude_&met_y=population&hl=en&dl=en#!ctype=l&strail=false&bcs=d&nselm=h&met_y=population&fdim_y=country:US&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=age_group&idim=age_group:19&ifdim=age_group&tdim=true&hl=en_US&dl=en&ind=false Data provided by Google]

Usually, the private sector, being much more efficient, responds well to these shifts by simply cutting off jobs or responding to the technological advancements to eliminate the need for a position. The public sector, however, cannot make these decisions like a private entity, and hence, fails to respond to these shifts efficiently. Due to this, we frequently see a hiring backlog, difficulty to hire older employees as a response to the rising retirement age, employee-job description mismatches due to constant technological advancements and the failure of older employees to keep up with the increasing pace of technology. While these problems are solvable, they are often ignored so as to conserve federal resources. As a result, we see the labor policies being ineffective in public sectors.

It is critical to solve this issue so as to save thousands of federal jobs, hence I believe that changing the current governing model and having a healthy mix of the private sector in the government is critical. The private sector offers a wide selection of job opportunities, so finding a better fit for federal employees with matching job descriptions would be easier with the public-private collaboration. This will also help in normalizing the wage gap as well as retirement age between these sectors, and ultimately, saving tax dollars. [footnoteRef:2] [2: Wagner, E. (2017, April 25). Overall Public-Private Sector Compensation Gap Has Widened, CBO Finds. Retrieved July 1, 2018, from https://www.govexec.com/pay-benefits/2017/04/overall-public-private-sector-compensation-gap-has-widened-cbo-finds/137324/]

Traditionally, private sector treats its beneficiaries as customers, while public sector treats them like a citizen. Joining up these two sectors horizontally and vertically will bring in the best of both worlds to the government, making it more efficient, as well as saving taxpayer’s money to benefit its citizen the most. Partnering with the private sector would increase the adaptation of new technology in the public sector, while dramatically reducing the cost of that technology. This will ultimately result in having more choices of employment available for consumers, and therefore, increased customer/citizen satisfaction.[footnoteRef:3] [3: Goldsmith, S., & Eggers, W. (2004). Governing by Network: The New Shape of the Public Sector. Brookings Institution Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7864/j.ctt12879qp]

While this partnership could be very effective, we must consider the potential downsides as well. Changing the entire structure of the government to suit to the private approach could result in significantly increased spending in the beginning, resulting in public backlash. Moreover, people trust the government since it acts independently and solely in the interest of the citizen. Privatizing the government could potentially mean that the government would ultimately do less itself and give up control, along with serving for the interest of private entities. [footnoteRef:4] [4: Goldsmith, S., & Eggers, W. (2004). Governing by Network: The New Shape of the Public Sector. Brookings Institution Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7864/j.ctt12879qp ]

Ultimately, Restructuring the entire public sector to have a healthy mix of private-public collaboration could be the best decision taken in public as well as employee’s interests, only if done properly.