The Obama Generation Makes Bureaucracy Cool

The GovLoop Generation: A Weapon for Obama?

A surprising phenomenon is taking place in the United States. No one has been paying much attention to a new silent revolution, which will have consequences on U.S. society for the next half century.

Over the next four years, close to 500,000 government employees born during the baby boomer era will retire. They came of age during the presidency of John F. Kennedy, who called upon his fellow Americans to “ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.” They took part in the race to the moon, created the Peace Corps and built the programs initiated by JFK and his successor, Lyndon Johnson, as part of the Great Society. This year alone the government will hire 60,000 new employees. Last year the number was 142,690. More than 30 percent were under the age of 29 and 25 percent were between the ages of 30 and 39. A profound change is about to take place.

Over the next 10 years, 400,000 out of the 2 million civil servants will be under the age of 35. They also hold more diplomas than their elders and often have prior experience working for a non-governmental organization or a foundation. It is the generation that played a large part in bringing Barack Obama to the White House. A deep change is therefore on the horizon, especially because the government is attempting to regain control over programs that were handled over the last few years by outside consultants, specifically in the sectors of health, defense and anything related to domestic security. For example, during the 2010–2012 period, the health sector will need 54,114 new public employees (doctors, nurses, radiologists, consumer security agents, etc.), while the security sector will need 52,000. In addition, the deep economic crisis and the 9.3 percent unemployment rate render bureaucracy far more appealing. A number of young, talented adults, who in another time and place would have joined the private sector, are looking at the public sector in a more favorable way.

These new public officials, who are usually idealists and technologically savvy, know how to organize. For example, these civil servants of the digital age have created their own social networking websites, such as Facebook and GovLoop. GovLoop counts 32,000 members who exchange ideas and meet up at conferences such as the NextGen conference, which was held a few weeks ago in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.

While it could change society, the Obama generation is transforming the world of bureaucracy. Instead of a rather dull career choice, the members of GovLoop are making public service cool once again. Times are definitely changing.