Many Feds Face Furloughs Twice
Dems Back Retroactive Shutdown Pay
How Long Has the Shutdown Lasted?
Agencies Post Shutdown Plans Online
No TSP Contributions During a Shutdown
How Contractors Might Weather a Shutdown
AUTHOR ARCHIVES
Brittany Ballenstedt
Blogger
Brittany Ballenstedt writes Nextgov's Wired Workplace blog, which delves into the issues facing employees who work in the federal information technology sector. Before joining Nextgov, Brittany covered federal pay and benefits issues as a staff correspondent for Government Executive and served as an associate editor for National Journal's Technology Daily. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Mansfield University and originally hails from Pennsylvania. She currently lives near Travis Air Force Base, Calif., where her husband is stationed.
Cyber Execs' Competing Priorities Are Often at Odds With Each Other
September 27, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
Cybersecurity executives are faced with such a broad range of complex challenges that their priorities – from staffing to training to technology – are often at odds with each other, according to a new report. A survey of more than 1,600 C-level executives from around the world by (ISC)2, Booz ...
Feds Already Knew It's Too Soon for Cyber Workforce Standards
September 26, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
A recent report on professionalization in the cybersecurity workforce confirmed the views of many government experts that the field is much too young, diverse and understaffed to begin introducing stricter standards. Ernest McDuffie, head of the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, said ...
Cyber Experts Don't Put Much Stock in Security Compliance Measures
September 25, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
With recent research highlighting compliance burdens as a top concern among IT workers, there’s little surprise in a new report that found federal cybersecurity professionals are putting little faith in compliance measures designed to improve information security and protect data. A survey of 203 federal cybersecurity professionals by MeriTalk and ...
Staffing Shortages Keep IT Executives Awake at Night
September 23, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
Concerns over compliance burdens and IT staffing shortages are enough to keep IT workers up at night, according to a new study. A survey of 272 IT decision makers in industries including government by security company EiQ Networks found that regulatory compliance continues to remain a top concern among IT ...
More Than 1 in 5 Cyber Jobs Vacant at Key DHS Division
September 20, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
More than one in five jobs at a key cybersecurity component within the Homeland Security Department are vacant, in large part due to steep competition in recruiting and hiring qualified personnel, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office. The report, which assessed recruiting and hiring efforts at ...
What Your Agency May Look Like in 2020
September 19, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
Have you wondered what your federal agency will look like in 2020? It may be a place where bulky, expensive buildings are a thing of the past: An influx of fresh young talent is revamping government, and more than half of the workforce is teleworking. That’s according to a new ...
Give Up Your Office Space, Federal Teleworkers
September 18, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
Mobility holds a great deal of promise for the federal government, but federal leaders and employees must be willing to sacrifice some of their personal office space in order to realize mobility’s full potential, one CIO said last week. “As federal organizations, we are still inordinately attached to real estate,” ...
Cybersecurity Field Not Ready to Be Professionalized, Study Finds
September 18, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
The time is not yet ripe to begin introducing professionalization standards into the rapidly changing and diverse field of cybersecurity, particularly given the staffing shortages that already exist in the field, according to a new report by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences. The report, “Professionalizing ...
The 72-Hour Workweek Is the New Norm, but Don't Blame Your Smartphone
September 17, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
Has the number of hours you work per week increased in recent years? You may be inclined to blame your smartphone, according to a new study. A recent survey of 483 executive, managers and professionals by the Center for Creative Leadership found that 60 percent of those who carry smartphones ...
Some Managers Hope the Next Administration Will Abandon Telework
September 13, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
Is your manager embracing telework, or holding out that the work option is just a passing trend that will fade in a few years under new presidential leadership? A forthcoming survey of federal managers received a number of hopeful responses that the telework buzz will die off in a few ...
