While President Obama's $3.8 trillion budget proposal for 2011 looks to put the funding skids on a number of government programs, its plan to boost spending in finance oversight would mean a boon in hiring for finance pros looking to work for Uncle Sam.
1. The Treasury Department -- The total amount to be spent on Tim Geithner's team circa 2011 could rise to almost $14 billion, up from $13.55 billion this year, according to the spending plan Obama sent to Congress yesterday. Department employment levels are projected to increase by 253 workers since 2009. Last year's headcount of 1,089 workers is expected to grow to 1,266 in 2010, and reach an estimated 1,342 workers in 2011.
Part of the increased spending will go towards hiring staff with expertise in finance and tax policy to address emerging economic challenges. Some of the new positions will focus on implementing the grab bag of Financial Regulation Reform initiatives. Those plans will include the launching of the Office of National Insurance and the Financial Services Oversight Council, new supervisory groups set to ramp up regulation of financial institutions and markets.
Finance pros who fancy they have a Jack Bauer alter ego may be in luck. The budget also reserves $1.1 million to be used for hiring personnel in the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, to remain available until Sept. 30, 2012.
2. The Securities and Exchange Commission -- The regulatory agency is set to receive more help policing derivatives and exposing financial fraud. The agency's budget would balloon by 11% to $1.23 billion. This the second consecutive year Obama has proposed injecting the SEC with more funds. Congress approved the President's spending plan in 2010 that increased the agency's budget to $1.12 billion from $966 million the prior year. The increased spending reflects a departure from Bush administration era policies. SEC regulators, who have been blamed for a string of missteps including its failure detect Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme, have said that its mistakes were partly due to flat budgetary growth which handicapped its ability to monitor rapid changes on Wall Street.
The budget would allow the agency's staff to grow about 10% to 4,200 next year from 3,810 workers in 2010. New hiring would be cut by 38 full-time positions if the SEC doesn't get the additional $24 million that is attached to reform legislation and currently awaiting Congressional approval, according to Bloomberg News.
Of the six major divisions within the agency, the enforcement arm will receive the largest chunk of the new funds. The unit would bulk up hiring to help examine the complex financial products and transactions and also invest a portion of the funds in information technology that would include building a new IT forensics lab. Staff in the enforcement division would rise 10.6% to 1,368.
"If enacted, the President's request will do a great deal to help us keep pace with the continuing growth of the markets and provide necessary resources to support important regulatory initiatives in 2011," said SEC chief Mary Schapiro in a statement.
To better attract and retain top talent, Obama's proposal also aims to streamline the government's slow-moving hiring process. Potential job candidates have to endure 150 days on average speckled with multiple interviews with all different government characters before they reach the recruitment finish line. The plan says the inefficient system often leads attractive candidates to get on board with faster moving competitors. The Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management are currently taking steps to hasten the hiring process by the end of 2010 while other initiatives to develop more innovative recruitment strategies are in the works.
Write to Yoree Koh