Survey: Fed IT workforce stable

The federal information technology workforce is definitely graying, but the widely predicted brain drain appears to be slowing, according to a new survey from the CIO Council and the Office of Personnel Management.

In its second annual survey of more than 22,000 federal IT workers, OPM found no dramatic gain or loss in any technical area since the last year’s survey.

“There were no significant differences in the skill or competency proficiencies between the retiring population and the IT workforce population in general,” the report states.

As a result, the federal workforce is not at risk of losing people with a particular competency or skill, according to the report.

According to the survey, 14 percent of the federal IT workforce plan to retire in the next three years and an additional 16 percent within the next four to six years. OPM officials recommended making sure that those retirements do not deplete skills in the remaining workforce. The survey also found that project managers were the most likely to retire in the next three years.

The survey also found the federal workforce is aging in general. The typical IT worker is 46 to 55 years old, has more than 20 years' federal government experience and is likely to retire in the next 11 to 20 years.