The federal workforce is getting older, and that may spell trouble for the government.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the percentage of federal employees under 30 years old fell to an eight-year low of 7 percent in 2013—a far cry from the 25 percent in the private-sector. Without deeper reserves of young employees "the government risks falling behind in an increasingly digital world," the Journal cites current and former officials as saying.

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Much of this employee demographic problem may come from the federal government's reputation.

"The federal government used to be an employer of choice," Paul Light, a professor of public policy at New York University studying youth career paths, told the Journal, "and now it's an employer of last resort."



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Office of Personnel Management Director Katherine Archuleta told the Journal that altering the profile of the current federal workforce—wherein 45 percent were older than 50 in 2013—is a "challenge." And Kimberly Holden, the OPM's deputy associate director of recruitment and hiring, concluded that "the government will be lost" without a tech literate younger staff, according to the Journal.

—By CNBC staff

