From mailing Social Security checks to inspecting the food we eat, guarding national parks, managing border security, and caring for military veterans, the federal workforce quietly powers nearly every corner of American life. These public servants often work behind the scenes, but their impact is felt daily – upholding the economy, safeguarding national security, and ensuring the government runs smoothly.
So just how large is this workforce? Who are the people filling these essential roles? And what challenges lie ahead? Let’s take a look.
The Scope and Scale of Federal Civilian Employment
As of 2023, the U.S. federal civilian workforce comprises approximately 2.2 million employees, according to the Office of Personnel Management and the Congressional Research Service. This number does not include active-duty military personnel, but it does account for full-time civilian staff across hundreds of federal agencies.
While that figure represents just 1.4% of the total U.S. civilian labor force – which exceeds 160 million workers – it still makes the federal government the nation’s single largest employer. Until recently, the size of the workforce has remained remarkably stable over the decades, but it continues to evolve in response to emerging national priorities, technological advances, and workforce demographics.
Federal Job Classifications
As mentioned, the U.S. federal government employs over two million civilian workers across a wide range of roles. To manage such a diverse workforce, the government relies on a standardized system of job classifications that helps ensure fairness, consistency, and transparency in hiring, pay, and promotion.
Federal jobs are generally grouped into six major classification systems, each serving different parts of the federal workforce. Understanding these systems is key for anyone considering a career in public service or trying to navigate the federal employment landscape.
1. General Schedule (GS)
The General Schedule, or GS, is the most widely used federal job classification system. It covers about 70% of federal civilian employees, including administrative, technical, professional, and clerical positions.
- Pay Grades: The GS system consists of 15 grades (GS-1 to GS-15), with each grade having 10 steps to account for longevity and performance increases.
- Typical Roles: Includes analysts, HR specialists, accountants, scientists, and entry-to-senior-level professionals.
- Entry Level: College graduates typically enter at GS-5 or GS-7; more experienced professionals may start at higher grades.
- Promotion: Employees can move up in grade or step based on experience, performance, and qualifications.
2. Senior Executive Service (SES)
The Senior Executive Service is designed for top-level career civil servants who lead major programs and shape public policy.
- Who It Covers: High-ranking executives just below presidential appointees.
- Pay Scale: Separate from the GS system, with salaries determined by performance and agency scope (2025 annual salary cap: $221,900).
- Focus: Leadership, strategic direction, and cross-agency coordination.
- Selection: Requires executive competencies and approval required by a Qualifications Review Board.
3. Federal Wage System (FWS)
The Federal Wage System (also known as Wage Grade or WG) covers blue-collar jobs involving skilled trades, crafts, and labor.
- Pay Grades: Jobs are classified from WG-1 to WG-15, depending on complexity and responsibility.
- Pay Setting: Based on prevailing local wages (not national standards).
- Typical Roles: Electricians, mechanics, maintenance workers, and other hands-on technical positions.
- Other Categories: Also includes WL (Wage Leader) and WS (Wage Supervisor) classifications for supervisory positions.
4. Excepted Service
Not all federal jobs fall under the competitive GS or FWS structures. The Excepted Service covers positions that are exempt from the standard civil service hiring process.
- Who It Includes: Intelligence agencies (CIA, NSA), attorneys, chaplains, and positions in agencies with unique hiring needs.
- Flexibility: Agencies can establish their own hiring and pay systems.
- Examples: Federal Reserve, Foreign Service Officers, and positions under Title 38 (e.g., VA medical staff).
5. Veterans Health Administration (Title 38 & Hybrid Title 38)
At the Department of Veterans Affairs, certain medical professionals are hired under Title 38 authority, which provides flexibility in pay and hiring to compete with private healthcare employers.
- Roles Covered: Physicians, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, and other healthcare professionals.
- Hybrid Title 38: Covers clinical roles that blend civil service rules with Title 38 flexibility (e.g., social workers, psychologists).
- Benefits: Often includes higher starting pay, retention bonuses, and quicker hiring timelines.
6. Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) and Other Special Classifications
Some federal roles fall into highly specialized classifications, including:
- Administrative Law Judges (ALJs): Independent adjudicators who oversee regulatory hearings.
- Foreign Service: Positions at the Department of State and U.S. embassies abroad.
- Intelligence Community (IC): Uses unique pay bands and job classifications tailored to sensitive mission needs.
Why Classifications Matter
Understanding job classifications is essential because they determine:
- Eligibility (Who can apply and how applicants are assessed)
- Pay and benefits
- Promotion opportunities
- Hiring process (competitive vs. excepted service)
- Job security and protections
For applicants, recognizing which classification a job falls under can help tailor applications, prepare for interviews, and understand long-term career paths within the federal system.
Who Makes Up the Federal Workforce?
The federal government spans more than 400 departments and agencies, with civilian employees serving in roles as diverse as cybersecurity, law enforcement, engineering, health care, and environmental science.
Largest Departments by Civilian Workforce:
- The Department of Defense (DoD) leads with roughly 700,000 civilian employees.
- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employs about 400,000 people, primarily in healthcare and support roles.
- The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) follows with 230,000 employees across agencies like FEMA, TSA, and Border Patrol.
Other major employers include the Department of Justice, the Treasury Department, and the U.S. Postal Service (which, while quasi-federal, employs another 600,000 workers).
What They Do: Roles and Specialties
The range of occupations within the federal government is vast. Major job categories include:
- Administrative and program management
- Healthcare services, especially in VA hospitals and clinics
- Law enforcement and homeland security
- Cybersecurity, IT, and systems engineering
- Scientific research and environmental monitoring, at agencies like NASA, NOAA, and the EPA
Whether it’s a National Park ranger guiding hikers, a CDC scientist researching emerging diseases, or an IRS analyst reviewing tax returns, federal employees form the backbone of government operations.
Demographics and Workforce Trends
The federal workforce is predominantly male (57%) and aging – about 27% are 55 or older, raising concerns about a looming retirement wave. Additionally, many roles, especially in defense and intelligence, require security clearances, with tens of thousands holding levels ranging from Public Trust to Top Secret/SCI – something we talk about in-depth in a future article.
This aging trend presents both a challenge and an opportunity. Nearly a third of employees are eligible to retire within five years, placing urgency on succession planning, recruitment, and training the next generation of civil servants.
Geographic Reach: Not Just in Washington
Although Washington, D.C. is the nerve center of the federal government, nearly 85% of federal civilian employees work outside the capital. Federal employees are found in every state and even around the world, supporting missions in embassies, military installations, disaster relief zones, and scientific outposts.
States with the highest concentrations of federal workers include California, Virginia, Texas, Florida, Maryland, Georgia, and Pennsylvania due to them being homes to military bases, federal labs, regional administrative offices, and major VA hospitals.
Evolving Roles in a Changing World
Over the past several decades, the responsibilities of the federal workforce have grown dramatically in both scope and complexity. Federal employees are now tasked with managing everything from pandemic response and climate resilience to space exploration, artificial intelligence regulation, and digital infrastructure security. Despite this expanding mission set, the overall size of the federal workforce has remained relatively stable since the 1960s—even as the U.S. population has increased by more than 130 million people and public expectations of government services have grown. That is, until recently.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal workforce has begun to evolve more rapidly, responding to both external challenges and internal pressures. One of the most significant shifts has been the embrace of flexible work arrangements.
Many agencies have transitioned to hybrid or fully remote models, a move that has not only altered how federal employees deliver services but has also opened the door to a more geographically diverse talent pool. This flexibility is helping to attract younger professionals, caregivers, and individuals outside traditional urban hubs who may not have previously considered federal employment.
At the same time, the rise of technology-driven governance is reshaping workforce needs. Fields like cybersecurity, cloud computing, data analytics, and artificial intelligence are now mission critical. Yet federal agencies often find themselves at a disadvantage when competing with the private sector for highly skilled tech professionals, largely due to slower hiring processes, rigid compensation structures, and limited brand visibility among emerging talent.
To address these gaps, the federal government has launched a series of workforce modernization efforts aimed at making public service more accessible, inclusive, and future-ready. Initiatives such as the Federal Cyber Workforce Strategy and the President’s Management Agenda are focused on:
- streamlining hiring pipelines
- expanding direct-hire authority
- investing in employee reskilling
- promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility across federal roles.
These strategies are designed to equip agencies with the talent they need to meet emerging challenges while also preparing for a generational shift as a large portion of the workforce nears retirement.
Ultimately, the federal workforce is amid a major transformation—one that mirrors broader societal changes and seeks to build a more agile, tech-savvy, and resilient public service capable of navigating 21st-century demands.
Key Challenges on the Horizon
As the federal government looks toward the future, it faces several complex and interconnected challenges that could significantly impact the strength, stability, and effectiveness of its civilian workforce.
Hiring
One of the most persistent hurdles is hiring and retention. The federal hiring process is widely viewed as cumbersome, outdated, and too slow to compete in today’s fast-moving job market. Lengthy timelines, opaque job announcements, and inconsistent communication often discourage qualified candidates .. especially younger applicants who are used to more responsive hiring practices in the private sector.
To counter these issues, some agencies are experimenting with internship-to-career pipelines, direct-hire authorities, and streamlined application processes designed to bring in fresh talent more efficiently. However, scaling these innovations across the entire federal system remains a challenge.
Retirements
Another looming concern is the impending retirement wave. Nearly a third of the federal workforce is eligible to retire within the next five years, and a large share of those employees occupy leadership or mission-critical roles.
This creates a dual challenge: not only must agencies recruit enough new talent to fill these roles, but they must also prepare the next generation of leaders through succession planning, mentorship, and professional development programs. Without a strategic and well-funded approach to this transition, agencies risk losing decades of institutional knowledge and operational continuity.
Stability
Compounding these internal workforce issues is growing concern over workforce stability and politicization. In recent years, proposals like the reintroduction of “Schedule F”—a controversial policy that would reclassify certain federal employees and strip them of longstanding civil service protections—have sparked intense debate.
Critics argue that such measures could undermine the merit-based, apolitical nature of the civil service, leaving career employees vulnerable to political interference and turnover with each new administration. While not currently in effect, the potential for such reforms continues to raise uncertainty and unease across the federal workforce.
Together, these challenges form a high-stakes balancing act for government leaders: how to modernize and diversify the federal workforce, maintain stability and professionalism, and remain competitive in a rapidly evolving job market—all while safeguarding the integrity and independence of public service.
In the End …
The federal workforce may not always make headlines, but it touches nearly every aspect of American life. Whether responding to national emergencies, securing borders, providing healthcare to veterans, or conducting groundbreaking research, these public servants play a vital role in shaping the nation’s future.
As America faces complex challenges from climate change to cybersecurity to public health, the resilience and modernization of its civilian workforce now and into the future will be a defining factor in its ability to respond, adapt, and lead.
