Government Supes an Endangered Species

WASHINGTON — Would you want your daughter (or son) to marry a government supervisor?

If hopes for your offspring include marriage to someone with a good, safe, steady job, the answer to the above is maybe not.

Federal workers designated as supervisors, managers and team leaders make up the fastest-shrinking portion of the downsizing U.S. government, which has eliminated nearly 200,000 jobs since the Clinton administration took office.

The president’s plan to wipe out 252,900 nonpostal federal jobs during his first term targeted supervisory personnel. They, along with headquarters staff members, were labeled as “overhead,” which rhymes with red tape and foot dragging. “De-layering” became the downsizers’ battle cry.

“Managers are definitely an endangered species,” said Lynn Olsen, a former federal manager who now heads the Washington-based Professional Managers Assn. “Our people are really feeling the heat, really feeling insecure.”

The association represents many workers in the Internal Revenue Service, and it has asked the agency to offer buyouts of as much as $25,000 to get employees to retire or quit.

From the 1960s to the 1980s, the nature of the federal work force changed. Government went from an army of clerks to an outfit with more engineers and scientists than secretaries. More professional and technical workers came in, and automation cut the demand for clerical positions.

In 1988, according to the Office of Personnel Management, supervisors and managers made up 12.4% of the nonpostal federal work force. Their share of the work force had risen to 12.7% by March 1994, but it has since dropped. As of November 1995, supervisors and managers made up only 11.6% of the downsized work force.

Chopping the supervisory ranks--through buyouts--had other effects. In 1988, men held 57% of the nonpostal federal jobs; minority workers, 27%; and military veterans, 32%. By last year, men had dropped to 55.9%, minorities had increased to 28.9%, and veterans had dropped to 26%.