The Partnership for Public Service has released the results
of a national survey in which 71 percent of respondents had a
favorable response when asked about government “workers,” but
only 20 percent had a favorable response when asked about
“federal government bureaucrats.”
The difference in response is hardly surprising, but it points
to the importance of the image of government in trying to
recruit new employees into federal service, which would seem
promising given that 91 percent of respondents feel that the
jobs, duties and functions of federal government workers are
important to their daily lives.
However, PPS said positive attitudes belie the difficulty of
recruiting for the federal work force and specific actions are
needed to add “you can further your career” to President John
F. Kennedy’s often quoted call to serve the nation.
