Workforce

  • The federal government is hiring more veterans than ever before. But overall, the picture is grim. Hiring across agencies has dropped by 46 percent since 2009. Tim McManus is vice president for Education and Outreach at the Partnership for Public Service. He told Federal News Radio's Shefali Kapadia about his new analysis of the numbers. Read Shefali's related article.

    July 10, 2014
  • Benefits expert John Elliott will discuss what you should be doing to prepare for retirement, and OPM Director Katherine Archuleta will talk about the status of phased retirement, the retirement-claims backlog and other civil service issues. July 9, 2014

    July 09, 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 new performance award strategy could rise from the ashes of a now-defunct pay system at the Defense Department. DoD tried to replace the General Schedule system with a National Security Personnel System back in the mid-2000s, but the White House repealed it two years ago. Bob Tobias is Director of Key Executive Leadership Programs at American University. He was part of a Task Force that tried to improve the system back in 2009. He said one bright spot in the system could be the key to building a new performance culture across the federal government on In Depth with Francis Rose.

    July 09, 2014
  • Industry needs to be "more creative and bold" when it comes to helping agencies solve their biggest challenges, says AT&T executive Casey Coleman, the former chief information officer at the General Services Administration.

    July 09, 2014
  • The restrictions on feds' travel opportunities are having too many unintended consequences, says Larry Allen, president of Allen Federal Business Partners.

    July 09, 2014
  • Tiffany Hixson, the professional services category executive at GSA's Federal Acquisition Service discusses the new professional services category management agenda for FAS and what it means for customer agencies and contractors. July 8, 2014

    July 08, 2014
  • Brian Miller, former inspector general at the General Services Administration, said IGs have a difficult job that often goes unnoticed. He gave Federal News Radio a behind-the-scenes look at how IGs balance mission, the media, agency relationships and a good sense of humor.

    July 08, 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
  • Congress helps set the stage for a one percent pay raise for federal employees next year, despite recent historical trends. The House and Senate versions of a government spending bill don't guarantee a salary bump, but they don't stop the president from declaring one, either. And the House already approved a 1.8 percent pay raise for military service members in 2015. Katie Maddocks is the government affairs representative for the Federal Managers Association. She explained the chances of seeing a pay raise next year on In Depth with Francis Rose.

    July 08, 2014
  • The Defense Department isn't following one of its own roadmaps. Back in 2012, defense planners devised a plan for protecting bases and installations from the potentially damaging effects of climate change. That's all started to affect DoD's planning, but there's a lot more to do. Brian Lepore is the director of Defense Capabilities and Management at the Government Accountability Office. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to discuss what the roadmaps mean.

    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 Pentagon says it's time to trim down the size and the cost of its headquarters staff around the world. The Government Accountability Office says the size of the overall workforce at the Pentagon's combatant commands doubled over the past decade. Overall spending to support the command headquarters grew by almost $1 billion, too. John Pendleton is director of defense capabilities and management of the GAO. He explained DoD's reduction plan and recommended ways to shrink the workforce on In Depth with Francis Rose.

    July 07, 2014