This week we’re saying goodbye to 2012 and looking back at what the year brought federal workers. Ron Sanders, a vice president with Booz Allen Hamilton and former chief human capital officer of the intelligence community, says despite the specter of sequestration and the fiscal cliff, there was some good news this year. And that could be a hint of what’s to come next year.

One of the most frequently repeated mantras heard this year was “Do more with less.” That meant big changes for some government contractors. Rob Levinson, a Bloomberg analyst, joins The Federal Drive to discuss the biggest forces impacting contractors this year and how they’ve prepared for the threat of the automatic budget cuts set to go into effect next month.

Each year, one of the smallest federal agencies, the Corporation for National and Community Service, conducts extensive surveys to find out how much Americans volunteer. Through good times and not-so-good, the level of volunteering seems to hold steady. Now the latest numbers are in — and they provide some good news in a tough holiday season, according to Wendy Spencer, the corporation’s CEO.

New report shows volunteering reaches a five-year high