Fiscal 2000 was the first year in the previous five in which the government lost fewer than 2,000 positions in the contracting series through retirements, separations, or leaving the series, and the trend continued through 2002, but each year after that losses exceeded 2,000 and totaled 2,108 in fiscal 2005, the report said.
It said that in fiscal 2002, hires exceeded losses by 686, fell behind by 445 in fiscal 2003, and again exceeded losses in fiscal 2005 by 653.
The average age for internal hires in the contracting series dropped in fiscal 2005 to 44.6, as did the age of the population
in that series, which was 45.8, while the average age external hires continued decreasing to 33.7, according to the report.
It said the percent of college graduates in the contracting series rose slightly from 67 percent in fiscal 2004 to 69 percent in fiscal 2005, while the percentage of college grads among external hires in that series — 85 percent — continued to exceed that of internal hires — 77 percent.
While the percentage of college graduates hired externally decreased slightly over fiscal 2004 from 88 percent to 85 percent,
those hired internally increased over the same period from 69 percent to 77 percent, the report said.
