Workforce

How to transform agency workforces with skills-based hiring

COMMENTARY | This fundamental shift requires government recruiters and hiring managers to think outside the box and adjust how they source, screen and train talent.

Workforce

Uncle Sam wants you to help train government HR to hire tech talent

Several agencies are hosting a challenge with prize money meant to spur innovation in how the government hires techies.

Workforce

White House looks to eliminate college degree requirements for cyber jobs with federal contractors

National Cyber Director Harry Coker also said Thursday that the federal government will be conducting a series of hiring sprints this year to fill seats.

Pay & Benefits

Union decries end to retention pay at embattled Illinois prison

Labor leaders at Federal Correctional Institute Thomson said the Bureau of Prisons’ termination of a short-lived initiative to retain employees at the rural facility with a 25% boost to pay will cause hundreds to leave the agency.

Workforce

5 places where the White House prioritized 2023 hiring 

To meet the increasing demand for government services and operational needs, the Biden administration targeted hiring surges at several agencies in 2023.

Management

Seven agencies join forces in hopes of quickly implementing Biden's Climate Corps initiative

Many details of the program still must be sorted, though the Biden administration is promising 20,000 participants will be enrolled by the summer and receive a suite of benefits.

Management

Acting Social Security chief highlights recent successes ahead of exit

Despite a series of challenges throughout her tenure, Acting Social Security Commissioner Kilolo Kijakazi sought to tout advances made under her watch ahead of the installation of former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley following his confirmation Monday.

Workforce

State Department restores passport processing to pre-pandemic levels

A hiring surge and mandatory overtime has brought passport processing down to its lowest level in years.

Workforce

VA is putting veterans at risk by improperly screening employees, watchdogs warn

The department does not have a good explanation for why the shortfalls occurred, officials say.

Workforce

A new rule may help land management temps get permanent federal gigs

The Office of Personnel Management is set to publish final regulations establishing a pathway for current and former temporary workers at land management agencies to apply for permanent posts through merit promotions procedures.

Management

OPM unveils its latest tool to accelerate the federal hiring process

The federal government’s HR agency added new functionality to USAJOBS to allow agencies to find candidates who had already been certified for federal employment elsewhere in government.

Pay & Benefits

OPM proposes making it easier to approve some recruitment and relocation incentives

Under proposed regulations, the federal government’s HR agency would no longer need to approve waivers of traditional incentive payment caps in advance, potentially speeding up the hiring and relocation processes.

Workforce

Overtime, staffing shortages and shutdowns to blame for recent air safety issues, panel finds

A task force is calling on FAA to "urgently" address its staffing issues to avoid further risks to the flying public.

Workforce

OPM issues guidelines on military spouse executive order

Telework, leave policies and “compassionate transfers” between agencies should all be utilized to recruit and retain spouses of members of the military and reserve services, officials said.

Defense

Service member influencers are helping DOD recruit, Pentagon official says

Social media posts shared by “genuine service members on their own” are helping the Pentagon recruit more young Americans into the U.S. military, according to the deputy secretary of defense.

Workforce

VA attributes record-breaking year to massive increases in hiring

The department will now focus on retaining those employees through various incentives and process improvements, officials say.

Management

O’Malley vows to listen to frontline Social Security workers

President Biden’s pick to lead the embattled Social Security Administration said many of the agency’s challenges can be alleviated by a change in culture.

Workforce

Five Lessons for the coming AI talent surge

COMMENTARY | Some of what agencies learned while filling infrastructure roles can serve as examples for how to hire the AI workforce.

Management

A tall task awaits O’Malley at Social Security

If confirmed, the former governor faces a likely uphill battle to lobby Congress for funding and to reverse a decades-long decline in staffing to alleviate workloads for a workforce in crisis.