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US govt to hire 270,000 for mission-critical jobs
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-09-04 10:12

HOUSTON: The US government will hire over 270,000 people for mission-critical jobs by 2012, a more than 40 percent jump from the previous three years, said a report released Thursday by a non-profit organization.

Most new hiring will be concentrated in five fields: medical and public health; security and protection; compliance and enforcement; legal; and program management, according to the report published by the Partnership for Public Service.

The Washington-based nonprofit said it compiled the report after surveying 35 federal agencies about government-wide, mission-critical hiring needs for the next three years.

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Some 54,114 jobs are need to be filled in the medical and public health fields. Security and protection jobs are next on the list with 52,077 positions available. Other fields in high demand include compliance and enforcement with 31,276 projected positions; legal with 23,596 jobs; and administration and program management, 17,287.

The hiring projections are largely driven by two factors -- national security and the need to replace hundreds of thousands of retiring federal workers, the report said.

The largest hire increase will come at the Department of Veterans Affairs, up 59 percent compared to 2007 figures with 48,159 jobs to fill. The Department of Homeland Security has a record 65,730 projected openings, up 37 percent and the Department of Defense is up 22 percent, with 43,514 projected hires, according to the report.