Hiring
Amid hiring surge, two VA agencies face employee background check deficiencies
The inspector general warned that shortcomings in the agencies’ background check programs were letting in unvetted staff.
Harris touts plan to bring on more border agents, but hiring is already lagging
The vice president is visiting the border to discuss ideas for the workforce that may be difficult to implement in practice.
36% of new IRS hires faced delays due to technical and security clearance jams
Despite hiring 64% of its new employees in fiscal 2022 and 2023 within its 80-day goal, it took the IRS an average of 124 days to employ roughly 19,000 personnel due, in part, to system limitations.
Expedited STEM and cybersecurity hiring authority extended
OPM grants direct hire authority to agencies when there’s a lack of candidates or major hiring needs.
Congressional committees tackle bills governing telework, marijuana and labor unions
While a Senate panel advanced bills improving telework data reporting by federal agencies and codifying the end of the restriction on federal employees’ past use of marijuana, its House counterpart advanced controversial bills aimed at busting federal employee unions and adding leading questions to the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey.
Harris touts skills-based hiring for feds on the campaign trail
The move to skills-based hiring for federal government jobs has been ongoing under the Trump and Biden administrations.
Republicans criticize EEOC over nixed one-day furlough
The agency said that no additional funding and a high pay increase for federal employees helped create its budget shortfall, but GOP leaders called it a failure to adjust spending.
National Park Service’s IRA hiring surge could fail ahead of funding deadline
While the legislation gave hundreds of millions to NPS for hiring, it didn’t grant new hiring flexibilities, which the Interior Department inspector general reports is hampering progress.
OPM and OMB unveil a new plan to improve the federal hiring ‘experience’ for both workers and HR managers
The Biden administration’s latest effort to improve the federal hiring process provides a roadmap for implementing decades-old calls for reform.
As millions of acres burn, firefighters say the U.S. Forest Service has left them with critical shortages
The country’s wildland firefighting resources are spread thin, more blazes are imminent, and supervisors of local crews are reluctant to allow firefighters to travel far from home to help elsewhere.
A Senate panel has advanced bills codifying skills-based hiring, restricting IG employees’ political activity
Bipartisan legislation would add employees in agency offices of inspectors general to the list of those “further restricted” from political activity under the Hatch Act.
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Agencies get creative to recruit AI experts
The federal government has hired more than 200 technologists through the national artificial intelligence talent surge, which is one part of President Biden’s AI executive order.
Gen Z is underrepresented in the federal workforce. Here’s how some experts would fix that
People younger than 30 represent 7% of the full-time civil service despite being 20% of the overall U.S. labor force.
Nuclear waste cleanup agency undermined by staff shortages, report says
The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management had a 17% vacancy rate at the end of fiscal 2023 and most were mission-critical roles.
The DOOBIE Act would codify federal hiring policy for former marijuana users
The bill, introduced by Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., would enshrine in law that past marijuana use cannot be the sole basis for denying federal job applicants a position or security clearance.
White House details almost $100M investment to boost tech hiring
Arati Prabhakar, the director of the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, said the government’s adoption of emerging capabilities “hinges on getting terrific people to come do this work.”
The Forest Service will focus hiring on its ‘highest priority positions’ amid tighter budgets
Lower attrition means that the agency will continue to promote internal recruitment, but limit some outside hires to ensure it that it can align both funding and core mission functions.
DHS wants to go big with its hiring fair this week
The department says it's cutting red tape in government hiring by giving tentative job offers on the spot and starting vetting processes in person.
NSF’s ongoing major infrastructure project delays due to personnel, supply challenges, report says
Staffing challenges were partially at the root of delays for two of the agency’s construction facilities projects costing more than $100 million.
DHS needs to improve how it collects employee hiring and vetting data, GAO reports
The watchdog’s analysis found that the department did not meet its average hiring time targets in fiscal 2022 for nine out of 13 priority positions.
