Longest Federal Government Shutdown in History Created the Risk of a Federal Brain Drain

Like any organization, our government can only succeed and effectively serve the American public if it is able to recruit and retain high-quality talent. The recent 35-day shutdown poses a real risk to our government’s ability to do just that.

Analyses from three major job and recruiting websites show that there was a sizable increase in the number of federal employees, many with mission critical skills, searching for new jobs during the partial shutdown that occurred from Dec. 22, 2018, until Jan. 28, 2019. At the same time, interest in obtaining government jobs fell, according to our analysis of traffic on USAJOBS, the federal job portal, and data from Glassdoor, a jobs and recruiting site.

While much attention has been paid to the harm the shutdown caused to our national security, the economy, air travel and a range of public services, the federal workforce bore an outsized burden.