Study: Job hunters prefer government positions
Federal, state and local government jobs are in demand, according to a survey of 2,900 workers by Chicago-based CareerBuilder.com. Eighty-eight percent of the survey respondents said they were interested in jobs in the public sector, with 47 percent saying they were interested in state or local government jobs.
When asked what most appealed to them about working for the government, job seekers pointed to job stability (21 percent), training opportunities (16 percent) and a chance to make a difference (13 percent). “In an uncertain market, job security is a huge selling point for workers,” said Chuck Loeher, vice president of Government Solutions at CareerBuilder. “Sixty-one percent of job seekers we surveyed said they think government jobs are more stable than private sector positions; a desirable asset in a tough economy.”
However, 37 percent of respondents said they may be deterred from seeking government jobs by a fear of the office politics involved. Twelve percent said they were concerned about the public sector’s ability to pay as much as the private sector, and 5 percent said they would be concerned about their upward mobility in the public sector.
View more information on the survey.
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