Washington's Brain Drain / As government workers retire in droves, the private sector is itching to take up the slack
Source: By Eamon Javers, Business Week, OCTOBER 1, 2007
........ Across the federal government, tens of thousands of baby boomers like Fretwell are hitting retirement age: In 2006, more than 60,000 people bowed out of the civil service. The federal Office of Personnel Management expects 2009 will be the peak year for boomer retirements, when more than 61,000 workers will leave their jobs. As the wave of retirements hits, agencies are offering enticements--from signing bonuses to subsidized college degrees--to attract new blood. Few expect the government to fill all the slots itself, however.
And waiting in the wings are contractors like Accenture (ACN ), BearingPoint (BE ), and Computer Sciences (CSC ). They're angling to take over swaths of the bureaucracy and further accelerate the outsourcing of the government. "For us, that's where the business opportunity lies," says Lisa M. Mascolo, Accenture's group CEO for public service. "My expectation is not to replace federal workers body for body, but for us to help transform the mission."