Digital Workspace

Modern IT in Government Boosts Retention and Satisfaction

Federal workers who have the chance to work remotely are happier in their jobs, and want to stay.

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Ryan Petersen has worked in publishing for more than two decades, most of it spent creating award-winning content and strategy for CDW’s family of tech magazine brands. As editor-in-chief, he works with his team to develop compelling and useful industry-focused stories to share with the technology world. Outside of work, Ryan enjoys spending time with his children, traveling, online gaming, and following Iowa Hawkeye sports and Cubs baseball.

For decades, the federal government has competed for skilled IT workers against the private sector, which often offers better pay as well as other benefits.

Agencies struggle to attract enough young workers to lessen the growing age gap (for every 4.5 federal IT employees over the age of 60, there is only one under 30). But they’ve found that IT modernization — itself a goal — may also become an employment solution.

In an era when the median tenure at any job, for any worker, is only about two years, the federal government relies on technology to attract and keep employees tempted by the lure of the private sector.

A new work-life study by the Office of Personnel Management found that most employees who took part in telework and flexible scheduling programs were extremely satisfied with their jobs, ranked highly in performance reviews and were more likely to stay put.

Mobility and the cloud contribute to this happy result. Telework becomes possible from even the most remote locations when the technology is portable, up to date and connected to a solid network. Collaboration between far-flung offices improves when workers can see and hear each other clearly in a high-definition teleconference setting.

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Flexible, Mobile Tools Help Feds Get the Job Done

These solutions are found across the government as agencies provide users with the state-of-the-art equipment they need to do their jobs easily and efficiently, whether they’re service members in a remote country or parents staying home with their children when schools are closed.

The feature “Army Corps of Engineers, DISA Save on Manpower and Time with Mobility” highlights the ways that agencies have improved the use of mobile devices in rugged locations — disaster sites, flooded cities, war zones — so that workers can still do their jobs. Commercial devices such as smartphones are adapted for government use, speeding response times by workers in the field.

Other agencies focus on giving teleworking employees the proper resources. “SEC, USCIS Turn to Telework for Flexibility and to Lure Top Talent” looks at how agencies establish and maintain telework programs. “Why Stronger Endpoints Create More Secure Networks for Feds” examines procedures to ensure the security of those distant devices.

Employee retention, cost savings, new faces and workflow efficiency: Government hiring officials are hopeful that new technology will bring all these benefits.