State Dept rethinks training for Foreign Service at all levels amid hiring surge

The State Department is increasing its capacity to train members of the Foreign Service, and expanding the fields of expertise for its diplomatic corps, as the department embarks on its largest hiring of career diplomats in more than a decade.

The department on Monday held a dedication ceremony to commemorate the opening of a new wing of its Foreign Service Institute in Arlington, Virginia.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the new space is meant to accommodate the hundreds of new Foreign Service officers who will train at the facility in the coming years. That’s because the department is overseeing its largest hiring surge in over a decade.