Federal senior executives on average are getting older and with more experience, creating opportunities ahead to advance up into the SES ranks as current execs retire. OPM recently reported that there are just above 8,000 SES positions, up nearly 300 since 2008, and about 7,200 of them career. The average age is 54.2, having increased gradually from 53.4 in 2008, and the average length of service is 22 years, about the same over that time, while 606 retired in 2012, up from 538 in 2008. The average SES salary is just above $166,000. Women make up 33 percent of the SES, up from 29 percent in 2008, while 81 percent of execs identified themselves as white and not Hispanic or Latino, down from 84 percent. Ninety-three percent of the SES has at least a four-year college degree, with 69 percent having an advanced degree.
