Selcuk Acar/Getty Images
- Sign-on bonuses, higher pay, and paid family leave are on offer with some government jobs.
- Roles such as public school teachers and police officers have a reputation of being underpaid.
- Listings offer an average of 20% higher pay compared to last year, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Job prospects in some sectors such as tech might be less than rosy, but some government agencies are pulling out the stops in a bid to attract applicants.
Thousands of government positions are on offer, according to FRED Economic Data and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Many are offering higher pay, sign-on bonuses, and paid family leave, The Wall Street Journal reported.
US Customs and Border Protection is offering payments of as much as $20,000 for new border patrol officers in certain locations, per the Journal. New firefighters in Polk County, Florida are being offered up to $10,000, WFTS Tampa Bay reported, while Alameda Police Department in California's Bay Area has offered new hires a $75,000 bonus, KPIX reported. In April it had 24 vacancies for police officers.
Some of these bonuses seem to be working. Oklahoma is poised to pay out teachers bonuses of between $15,000 and $50,000 to about 530 recently recruited teachers, according to NPR affiliate KOSU. Whether such payments will help retain workers over the long term remains to be seen, however.
While a signing bonus is more of a short-term incentive, some workers may be seeking more long-term incentives such as livable wages, a promotion-friendly company culture, and better work-life balance.
For some, paid family leave can help maintain that balance, and government employers seem to be taking note. America is one of the few developed nations to lack federally mandated paid parental leave.
Government workers in Arizona, for example, have had 12 weeks of paid leave available since January. Expanding paid sick and family leave for government workers was one initiative brought in by Democrat Katie Hobbs after being sworn in as Arizona governor the same month.
Such changes could combat perceptions that government jobs pay less than private sector roles. Some teachers, police officers, and firefighters have spoken out about feeling underpaid, which along with poor conditions have prompted some to quit.
However, the wages of government employees may be catching up. On average, government jobs listed on ZipRecruiter paid 20% more compared to those last year, the Journal reported.