Who Are the Contingent Workers in Federal Government?

Abstract

To most, federal employment means stable work with good pay, good benefits, long-run job security, and opportunities for promotion from the mail room to upper management. The authors' debunk that notion. The authors' definitively establish the presence of a core/ring structure in federal employment. Core occupations are permanent full-time, year-round stable positions, whereas ring jobs are comparatively unstable work situations: temporary, part-time, and/or for a specified period of time. Federal personnel administrators increasingly use temporary, contract, on-call, and part-time positions to control costs. Even when we control for individual characteristics—educational attainment and years of experience—we find group characteristics—particularly gender—reduce the chances of working in a permanent federal job. Is this an indictment against the federal government's reputation as a model employer? Perhaps. At the very least, the potential for gender disparity in employment outcomes deserves further study. Contingent arrangements at the agency level deserve a closer look too.