United States Public Sector Employment

A Tradition of Public Service in Families

“…The public sector tends to employ workers with higher average levels of education than the private sector. Moreover, the goods and services produced by the public sector make higher education a prerequisite to many public sector jobs (Brock, 2017; see means for college degree by sector in columns 7 and 8 of Table 1). As such, a college degree may be driving the intergenerational transmission of public sector work.…”

“…Public 3 is defined as: Public 2, plus preschool and kindergarten teachers, elementary and middle school teachers, secondary school teachers, special education teachers, and individuals who moved between categories (e.g., someone who worked in the armed forces as well as teaching). Over half of state and local government workers are employed in education and teachers make up a substantial portion of public sector employees (Brock, 2017; National Center for Education Statistics, 2020). Furthermore, the inclusion of teachers is necessary for a more complete definition of public sector for a couple of reasons.…”

“…In the 1980s, the federal public sector began systematically downsizing and ceding decision-making to state and local governments in its transition to a market-oriented style of administration (Hood, 1991). Additionally, competition with the private sector for skilled workers emerged as technological developments put pressure on the public sector to retrain and redeploy its workforce (Brock, 2017). The influx of previously unemployed workers coupled with changing labor market demands suggests that understanding who goes into the public sector is important for ensuring the public sector remains competitive and distinguishable among other sectors (Ritz et al, 2022).…”

“…Nearly 15% of the U.S. workforce delivers vital social services to vulnerable populations on behalf of the public sector (Brock, 2017). The federal government maintains the U.S.…”

A Manager’s Guide to Free Speech and Social Media in the Public Workplace: An Analysis of the Lower Courts’ Recent Application of Pickering

“…In addressing this topic, it is important to define “public employee.” According to Massaro (1987), public employees include “public elementary and high school personnel, public university personnel, firefighters, police officers, postal workers, public welfare workers, the judiciary, military personnel, executive appointees, and a host of other workers employed by local, state, or federal governments” (p. 6). Brock (2001) notes that the public sector employees account for about 20.2 million people which makes up about 14.5 of the labor force in the United States. Although the free speech rights of private employees are limited with some conditions, the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly asserted that “it has been settled that a State cannot condition public employment on a basis that infringes the employee’s constitutionally protected interest in freedom of expression” (see Branti v. Finkel, 445 U.S. 507, 515-516, 1980; Connick v. Myers, 461 U.S. 138, 142, 1983; Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410, 413, 2006; Keyishian v. Board of Regents, 385 U.S. 589, 605-606, 1967; Perry v. Sindermann, 408 U.S. 593, 597, 1972; Pickering v. Board of Education, 391 U.S. 563, 1968).…”