Number of the Day: Feds Need To Hire 270,000

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Get those resumés ready! Job-seekers, check out this info from Thursday’s Washington Post:

The federal government needs to hire more than 270,000 workers for “mission-critical” jobs over the next three years, a surge prompted in part by the large number of baby-boomer federal workers reaching retirement age, according to the results of a government-wide survey being released Thursday.

The numbers also reflect the Obama administration’s intent to take on several enormous challenges, including the repair of the financial sector, fighting two wars, and addressing climate change.

One question, though, is can the federal government find the talent it needs for all these positions. And this job forecast doesn’t include any new government-run insurance plan—which may or may not come into being. But it does include 5,500 new hires for intelligence agencies.

By the way, the Animal House in Afghanistan episode illustrates the need for the feds  to reverse the trend of hiring contractors to do the government’s work. When there are big challenges at hand, sometimes you do need big government.

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We just keep seeing it happen: Newsrooms owned by billionaires and corporations are spinning their own narratives, overwriting the truth, following only stories that keep them in the pocket of those with even more power.

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Our mission is to find the truth and amplify it. That’s why we’re independent, nonprofit, and, crucially, funded by readers. The investigations on our website will always be free to read, watch, and listen to, but our newsroom is powered by readers who pitch in what they can so we can keep asking the hard questions.

Can you chip in today?

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