FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 20, 2002

Contact: Michael Orenstein (202) 606-2824

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Citizen Interest in Public Service Careers Grows

Washington, D.C. -- Interest in federal jobs, particularly among students, has taken off following the September 11 attacks on America, according to website statistics maintained by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

To illustrate the boom in interest in public service, OPM reports that nearly 136 million "hits" were made by 2.3 million visitors to the USAJOBS website and related systems in January 2002. This January surge followed a November and December that bucked the traditional, seasonal loss of appetite for federal jobs. In fact, the total number of visitors in the Thanksgiving and Christmas months climbed 19 percent and 11 percent, respectively, from October's 1.5 million visitors.

In addition to USAJOBS, an email system (patriot@opm.gov) designed by OPM days after the September attacks has attracted approximately 13,500 expressions of interest from retired federal employees who are ready, willing and able to return to public service and assist agencies facing extraordinary staffing needs.

"Following our national tragedy, the world has seen the heroism of public servants. Men and women of all ages now view public service in a positive light, and they are expressing this attitude through increased use of our USAJOB system," said OPM Director Kay Coles James. "They want to participate, and by serving their country as public servants, they understand the contributions they make will go a long way toward serving and defending the United States and their fellow countrymen and women, both at home and abroad."

OPM administers the USAJOBS website (www.usajobs.gov), which advertises approximately 17,000 federal job listings on any given day and tracks the number of visitors to the site.

Interest in the USAJOBS system, which also includes contacts by email, telephone and to the student jobs site, came from people of various age groups. While the web site hosted more than 1 million unique visitors in January 2002, the studentjobs.gov section of USAJOBS logged 56,500 visitors, up from 32,100 (a 75 percent increase) one month earlier. In October 2001, the studentjobs.gov section had 34,400 visitors.

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OPM oversees the federal work force and provides the American public with up-to-date employment information. OPM also supports U.S. agencies with personnel services and policy leadership including staffing tools, guidance on labor-management relations and programs to improve work force performance.