Obama outlines initiative to create 2.5 million jobs
“President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday outlined some of his plan to create 2.5 million jobs by 2011, and said he will push for immediate action by Congress when he takes office in January.”
Read full article on http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/06/obama.jobs/
300,000 Apply for 3,300 Obama Jobs
“Mr. (Clay) Johnson, who is now deputy director for management at the Office and Management and Budget, said most people were stunned to learn that the percentage of politically appointed employees in the federal government is so small, a mere 0.17 percent of the civilian work force of 1.9 million.
Mr. Johnson, who is well regarded by Republicans and Democrats alike for his expertise about federal employment issues, said that there were about 1,000 senior positions in the federal agencies that required Senate confirmation. These are typically positions like assistant, deputy and under secretary.
In addition there are 8,000 senior bureaucrats in what is called the Senior Executive Service and by law, no more than 10 percent, or 800, of these managerial positions may be filled by political appointees. Finally, he said, an administration has some 1,500 jobs to fill, known as Schedule C slots, with salaries ranging from about $25,000 to $150,000. The lower end of this scale are those jobs that people traditionally think of as political slots — suitable, say, for some party leader’s niece who just graduated from college.
(That adds up to 3,300, not including hundreds of federal judges, diplomats and members of boards and commissions.)”
Read full article on http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/06/us/politics/06seek.html
