Now hiring, your Uncle Sam: the growing federal payroll

The Boston Globe reports:

At a time when many companies are shedding jobs at an alarming rate to survive the recession, one employer is still hiring: the federal government.

While the number of job openings in the private sector has dropped 4.6 percent since December 2007, hiring across federal agencies during the same time period has increased 2 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In some ways, the economic decline has been a boon to the federal government. Agencies are seeing a dramatic increase in applicants, including some with blockbuster resumes who are willing to work for lower salaries. Many say they will trade a smaller paycheck in exchange for job security and good benefits, while others say they are answering President Obama's call for public service.

Kate Bender left the corporate world behind this week to become an executive at the Federal Reserve Bank in Boston. Bender, who previously worked at Wachovia Bank and has two master's degrees, is earning less in her new position (she won't say how much), but is nonetheless enthu siastic about the career shift.

"I wanted to focus on something with more meaning," Bender said. "And while the pay might not be the same, the benefits are much better."

The coercive sector of the economy doesn't feel like cutting back.