The Foreign Service Journal, June 2008

FY 09 budget request addressing the most urgent staffing and opera- tional funding needs confronting the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Develop- ment. Also pending are several bills to eliminate the overseas pay dis- parity. If Capitol Hill misses this opportunity to address these two unmet needs, then it could be 2010 or later before the next president and next Congress get themselves organized to act. By then, many current Foreign Service members may have given up on waiting for our national leader- ship to show that they care about them and their mis- sion. Already, State’s Bureau of Human Resources is projecting a 46-percent jump in Senior Foreign Service attrition rates over the next five years (the annual rate ranging from 9.56 to 14 percent) due to the baby boomer retirement wave. That represents a lot of experience, knowledge and foreign-language ability walking out the door. If that demographically-driven exodus were to be accompanied by a simultaneous morale-driven depar- ture of unprecedented numbers of entry-level and mid-level employ- ees, then U.S. diplomatic engage- ment with the world would certain- ly suffer. If some semblance of balance is not restored soon between the burdens and rewards of service, the future of the Foreign Service as we have known it will be in jeopardy. Hopefully, however, better days are coming that will bring increased resources and a brightening of the global operating environment. If so, the Foreign Service will remain an unbeatable career choice. n F O C U S J U N E 2 0 0 8 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 29 Let us hope better days are coming that will bring increased resources and a brightening of the global operating environment.