Dealing With Downsizing

With the federal budget crisis raising the potential for downsizing and other cuts at federal agencies, the Office of Personnel Management is extending help to federal employees who may be left looking for new jobs in the near future.

"The federal government is experiencing restructuring and downsizing in an increasing number of agencies," OPM Director John Berry wrote in a memo to agency chief human capital officers. "As a result, some federal employees may ultimately find themselves in a position of having to transition to a new job."

The memo outlines several webinars, tools and other online resources on early retirement, employee buyouts, veterans' preference and applying for other federal and non-federal jobs. Berry also highlighted OPM workshops that offer information on interview techniques, resume writing and finding and applying for federal jobs. "Agency human resources directors are encourage to disseminate this information to your respective agency personnel," he wrote.

The good news is the employment picture in the private sector is looking bright for federal IT workers affected by potential downsizing. The unemployment rate for technology professionals is just 4.2 percent, and according to the monthly index published by TechServe Alliance, the number of IT jobs last month increased by more than 7,000.

Another report by WANTED Analytics says the most commonly advertised job titles include project managers, software engineers, Java developers, business analysts, systems administrators, database administrators and programmers, Dice.com reports.