The Unintended Result of the Shutdown: No One Will Want To Work for the Government

David Van Slyke, dean of the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, is available to discuss the long-term consequences of the shutdown including that many people, especially young people from working for the government.  Those young people may instead choose to work for a private contractor doing work that public employees once did.

“We’re looking at the current effects of the shutdown in a short-term temporal dimension. But, we’re not looking at the effects on the federal workforce of tomorrow. And by tomorrow, I mean 3, 5, and 10 years out. If you’re a young person and there are multiple avenues for employment, are you going to select on going into a branch of government that is constantly criticized, where you could be temporarily laid off without pay, told you have to work and carry out stressful work without pay, and then told you still are personally responsible for all your own financial commitments while not receiving any payments for services rendered? Or, are you going to take a job with one of the many private contractors performing work that public employees historically have done?” asked Van Slyke.

“Public servants aren’t just being used as pawns; rather our executive and legislative leaders on both sides are failing to see the long-term potential for a weaker, less robust, and less capable federal workforce, increasingly reliant on contractors to make government run. Not only will the amount of contract work increase as the public service workforce shifts towards the private sector, but the costs of these contracts will increase, too. Don’t for one minute think these contractors are making interest free loans to federal agencies while the government is shut down. There will be costs and they won’t be competitive and market rate,” says Van Slyke.

Reporters wanting to talk to Dean Van Slyke should contact Ellen James Mbuqe, director of media relations at Syracuse University, at 315.443.1897 or ejmbuqe@syr.edu.