Hiring/Retention

  • Although resignations are up among under-30 feds, the bigger problem is hiring, says Jeff Neal, former chief human capital officer at the Department of Homeland Security.

    July 15, 2014
  • A top House overseer of federal law enforcement thinks that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) should be dissolved.

    July 15, 2014
  • An executive in the Patent and Trademark Office was found to have violated several federal laws when she used her position to get a relative's boyfriend a job in her agency. The inspector general of the Commerce Department investigated the matter after getting a tip from a whistleblower.

    July 14, 2014
  • Talent acquisition manager Mike Bruni will discuss how to get a job in what is a competitive and challenging federal market. July 11, 2014

    July 11, 2014
  • In examining the viability of the Senior Executive Service, House members called out the Veterans Affairs' compensation program, with a pledge to introduce another piece of legislation to take back bonuses. The Senior Executives Association relayed concerns that talent is fleeing senior executive positions.

    July 11, 2014
  • The lack of 30-and-under talent in the federal workforce means agencies will be facing significant shortfalls in the future, says Jeff Neal, former chief human capital officer at the Department of Homeland Security.

    July 11, 2014
  • A lot of people are saying that the relentless wave of retirements is a threat to the health of the federal workforce. But there's a problem on the other end of the age spectrum too -- OPM data shows there's been a sharp drop in the number of federal employees under the age of 30 over the last few years. As of last year, those younger workers made up just 8 percent of the workforce. Jeff Neal is senior vice president of ICF International and former chief human capital officer at the Department of Homeland Security. He explained the numbers behind the issue on In Depth with Francis Rose.

    July 10, 2014
  • New hiring in the federal government dropped by more than 13,000 in fiscal 2013, amounting to a 46.4 percent decline in hiring over the past four years, but two groups continue to show steady increases in the federal workforce.

    July 09, 2014
  • A specially-formed commission tasked with modernizing military compensation released an interim report in anticipation of its full recommendations due in February. The document reviews massive changes that have occurred since the military switched to an all-volunteer force in 1973.

    July 08, 2014
  • Agencies' scales tip strongly in the direction of older workers. The percentage of millennials in the federal workforce fell to 7 percent in 2013 — an eight-year low. This compares to about 23 percent in the private sector workforce.

    July 08, 2014
  • Two letters sent from Capitol Hill in call for the Office of Personnel Management to explain why it's taking so long to release final phased retirement regulations, and demand a revised timeline for action. Phased retirement was passed into law two years ago this week.

    July 07, 2014
  • The progress update on Performance.gov shows agencies are taking steps to improve the hiring process, keep Senior Executive Service officials more involved in management and continue promoting employee engagement.

    July 01, 2014
  • OMB has already deployed small teams to a few agencies to help with one-off digital projects, but the next step is standing up a more formal "Digital Service" within OMB. When fully operational, the office would be staffed with about 25 tech professionals — from outside the government — who would parachute into agencies on two-to-four-year rotations to help get new IT projects off the ground and help get wayward projects back on track.

    July 01, 2014
  • When federal agencies have a job opening, they tend to horde their candidates. And there's little sharing of candidate evaluation when someone does apply for a job at more than one agency. A new bill from Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) would change that by having agencies pool their candidates. John Palguta, vice president for policy at the Partnership for Public Service, joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss if the bill is a good idea.

    July 01, 2014