OP-ED A call to arms from Obama

Author: Matt Joseph

On Nov. 4, 2008, many of us watched Barack Obama deliver a powerful speech in Chicago's Grant Park after becoming the President-elect of the United States. Amidst all the emotions from Democrats and Republicans alike, Obama spoke to the crowd with a voice to the future. He declared, "This victory alone is not the change we seek - it is only the chance for us to make that change." At a time when our country has fallen into a recession and our troops are fighting two wars overseas, the call for change has never been clearer. At the same time, we are seeing an unprecedented movement of young people that are interested in serving their neighbors, their community and their country. After a long and turbulent campaign, it is time for Americans to answer the call for public service and make change happen.

Over 330,000 people have applied to work for Obama's administration on his www.change.gov website. The interest in helping the candidate of change become the President of change is remarkable, but only around 4,000 of those 330,000 will be hired by Obama's White House. Right now, there are over 70,000 federal jobs listed on www.usajobs.gov, the federal government's mandated job search engine, and more are being added daily.

At a time when jobs are down all around the country, government jobs have increased. The Office of Personnel Management projects that in the next five years 550,000 federal employees will leave the government, while in the next two years alone the federal government will need to hire 190,000 new employees to take over critical positions. Last week, the F.B.I. announced it was making a hiring push to add 2,100 employees to professional staff positions. So while the unemployment rate has grown to 7.2 percent, the highest it has been in 16 years, there may not be a better time to answer the call to serve.

Obama cannot meet this challenge alone and there are vast opportunities before us with jobs available in the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, Education, Energy, Housing and Urban Development and indeed all across government. Whether as interns or employees, our generation's service will resonate for decades to come.

The federal government needs analysts, economists, translators, engineers, paralegals, biologists and investigators to serve as the backbone of our government and the civilian force behind our nation's policies. We will need budget analysts and economists to improve our environment just as we will need engineers to make our infrastructure more efficient. The federal government is the nation's highest employer, and it provides a unique opportunity to make a difference on the vital issues that our country faces.

In front of millions of Americans in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, the chance for change arrived. The campaign that resonated throughout our generation as inspirational, intelligent and opportunistic has begun its drive to reality. As President Obama said in Grant Park, "So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder…. This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time."