# I'm not sure what's scarier... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 10, 2015, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-whats-scarier/724769 "2015-07-10T14:32:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-whats-scarier/724769/1 "2015-07-10T14:32:33Z")
The fact that the hacking of the Federal Office of Personnel Management affected 1 in 15 Americans, or that 1 in 15 Americans works for the Federal government. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-whats-scarier/724769/2 "2015-07-10T14:38:04Z")
Works and work_ **ed.** _[there are currently 2.7 million federal employees,](https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=how+many+federal+employees) versus 315 million people living in the US; so only 1 out of 115 are currently federal employees. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-whats-scarier/724769/3 "2015-07-10T15:14:14Z")
Good point ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-whats-scarier/724769/4 "2015-07-10T15:26:40Z")
One article I read stated that anyone who has had a security clearance through OPM in the last fifteen years was affected. That includes not only federal employees but also employees at private companies working on federal contracts. And in my applications for security clearances I have had to provide personal information not only for myself but for family members, in addition to contact information for neighbors, friends, and coworkers that I used as personal references. So given that scope, I could easily see it affecting 1 out of 15 Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-whats-scarier/724769/5 "2015-07-10T15:31:04Z")
Also, OPM may have records of people that are not formal federal employees such as government contractors with clearances. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-whats-scarier/724769/6 "2015-07-10T16:26:35Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > Also, OPM may have records of people that are not formal federal employees such as government contractors with clearances. Contractors are just employees you can easily fire. Still goes to the overwhelming size of the Federal government. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-whats-scarier/724769/7 "2015-07-10T16:30:03Z")
My SO has worked on military bases here and abroad in the last few years. She’s probably impacted. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-whats-scarier/724769/8 "2015-07-10T17:23:53Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Contractors are just employees you can easily fire. Still goes to the overwhelming size of the Federal government. Yeah, but inflated. My wife used to do interpretation work. She once applied to a company that did, among other things, some government work as a contractor for the FBI. Regardless of whether or not she wound up actually doing that work, she had to submit a background and security check through the FBI which also included my information as her spouse. She wound up not getting or pursuing the position but it’s very possible that her and mine information was part of that cache despite neither of us working for the government, even indirectly. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-whats-scarier/724769/9 "2015-07-10T20:44:33Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Works and work_ **ed.** _[there are currently 2.7 million federal employees,](https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=how+many+federal+employees) versus 315 million people living in the US; so only 1 out of 115 are currently federal employees. Beware, some links below are to PDF files. Comparing the number of government workers to the population is a bit misleading, it should be compared to the labor pool. According to [World Bank statistics](http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.TOTL.IN/countries), the US labor pool was, in 2014, 159.1 million people. That means the Federal government employs 1.7% (1 in 58) of the total labor pool. Factor in state and local governments ([a shade over 19 million employees](http://www2.census.gov/govs/apes/2013_summary_report.pdf)) and 14% (1 in 7) of the US labor pool is employed by some level of government. That’s a huge number, even considering half of government employees (1 in 14) appear to be in public education.