After a lot of soul searching I recently took a federal job.
There were about 40 of us in orientation, almost everyone there looked like they were in their 40’s and 50’s. Either prior military or getting to the age where they are realizing they will be working until they die if they don’t get a guaranteed pension.
Not a single person there looked like they were in their 20’s or early 30’s.
Getting a federal job is frankly a PIA, between deciding it was something I wanted to do to actually getting a pay check was about 6 months and the process was expedited for my position, it can take close to a year to get your first job. That and getting a security clearance and taking random observed urine tests, I imagine a lot of 20 something kids don’t want that much bother.
That generation is used to immediate rewards. That’s why a lot of them love to be in sales.
I’d think a lot of middle-aged people are looking for the stability of the federal jobs, while the younger people are either unqualified or disinterested in work in general.
I’d also think the affirmative action-based anti-white racism would be a deterrent; the gubmint workforce has minorities heavily over-represented, and they know it is difficult to fire them. Federal workers must deal with a lot of incompetent co-workers, while the private sector has been weeding them out since money got tight.