by Brian Weberg
The Associated Press, in a story published September 24, describes the Great Recession's "labor legacy: shorter workweeks, grayer work force and less job security." The following excerpts from the story stand out to me and raise questions about the future of legislative work and government employment.
...the most enduring change is the permanent loss of millions of jobs across the manufacturing, services and retail sectors.
The national unemployment rate...isn't expected to return to a "normal" level near 5 percent until 2014.
The need to cut costs deeply and quickly...[is] the central responsibility of managers these days.
A record 4.98 million people had been out of work 27 weeks or longer in August...
For those who have a full-time job, flexibility is key.
About 40 percent of workers are now over 55 or older, the highest since...1961.
More workers are delaying retirement for economic and personal reasons, locking up jobs that are sought by younger workers entering the work force.
Among white-collar workers, job security began to disappear in the recession of the early 1990s...it may be gone now.
Over the past year, the unemployment rate jumped 64 percent for managers and professionals like lawyers...
For some younger white-collar workers, job insecurity is so high that just hanging on has replaced asking for a raise or promotion.
How do these trends apply to or affect the more than 27,000 full time staff who work in state legislatures? Anecdotal and some survey evidence indicates that the legislative workplace is graying as baby boomers hold onto jobs they might have retired from in a better economy. Many legislatures are cutting costs through furloughs, travel restrictions, unfilled vacancies and other work-related measures. Layoffs, however, do not appear to be widespread. Is this third trend in the AP story--less job security--one that has come to state legislatures, or will it soon? Despite the fact that almost all legislative employees are at-will, these jobs have been remarkably stable and secure for several decades.
Most legislative staff I know agree that state legislatures are great places to work. In light of the changes happening in employment in America, maybe these legislative jobs are better than ever. Will the Great Recession change that, or just reinforce it?