{"id":40771,"date":"2024-07-01T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-01T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/?post_type=pps_fed_figures&p=40771"},"modified":"2024-07-01T10:04:10","modified_gmt":"2024-07-01T14:04:10","slug":"a-profile-of-the-2023-federal-workforce","status":"publish","type":"pps_fed_figures","link":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/fed-figures\/a-profile-of-the-2023-federal-workforce\/","title":{"rendered":"A Profile of the 2023 Federal Workforce"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The federal government currently employs over 2 million people who deliver a wide range of essential services to the American public. These professionals play a crucial role in protecting our national security, promoting public health, driving economic development and more. Nonpartisan civil servants are hired based on merit<\/a> to serve under other nonpartisan civil servants and political appointees. Political appointees set policy and directives, and civil servants carry out duties to fulfill those objectives, regardless of the political party in power and their own political views. Their unwavering commitment to the nation is evident in their diligent efforts to implement policies and provide services nationwide. They are a fundamental part of a well-functioning government.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Partnership for Public Service analyzed data from the Office of Personnel Management\u2019s online data source, FedScope, to highlight the various aspects of the federal workforce, including employment demographics, hiring trends and other statistics. With this data, members of the public, federal stakeholders, the media and others can gain insights into the composition, size and dynamics of federal employment trends. The data also enables federal leaders to make informed decisions and develop policies related to the federal workforce. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unless otherwise noted, data in this analysis are for full-time, nonseasonal, permanent civilian employees of the executive branch as of September 2023. The data does not include employees of the legislative or judicial branches, the intelligence community, the U.S. Postal Service, foreign service officers or locally employed staff within the Department of State, or uniformed military personnel. Contractors also are not included. <\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Percentages throughout may not appear to add up to 100 due to rounding.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Size of the Federal Workforce<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Between fiscal 2019 and 2023, the federal workforce grew by more than 140,000 employees, a change of over 7%. The federal government\u2019s response to the COVID-19 pandemic was likely a factor behind the increase in the federal workforce from 2020 to 2023, as some agencies rapidly<\/a> hired employees to manage the public health and economic emergency.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The largest increase occurred in 2023, with an addition of over 80,000 federal employees, pushing the size of the full-time, permanent federal workforce to over 2 million employees. The growth was partly due to major federal investments such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law<\/a>. The significant increase in federal funding led to a surge in targeted hiring for key positions, including scientists, engineers, construction managers and clean water experts across several major agencies to manage the influx of funds and the complexity of new infrastructure projects. Changes in federal policies and priorities can impact the size of the federal workforce. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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