CBO Examines Workforce Demographics

The federal workforce is becoming older but better educated, and the average age of both retirements and separations is holding about steady, according to the Congressional Budget Office. CBO, looking only at executive branch, white-collar jobs, said the average federal worker is now 46.9 years old, compared to 42.5 in 1990, and that 48.9 percent of workers have a college degree, up from 42.8 percent in 1990. The average age of a newly-hired employee is also increasing, from 32 years in 1990 to more about 37 years today and the proportion of them with a college degree also rose from 51 to 55 percent. The average retirement age has remained steady at about 59, CBO said, a number that is pulled lower by the generally earlier retirement of law enforcement personnel. Just above 40 percent of those who retire or separate have college degrees, effectively meaning that as they are being replaced the educational level of the overall workforce is going up. The average age of someone resigning for reasons other than retirement was 40.