Lankford Subcommittee Examines Improvements to Federal Workforce Hiring

WASHINGTON, DC – The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management, under the chairmanship of Senator James Lankford (R-OK), today held a hearing to examine “Solutions to Improve Federal Hiring.” The witnesses at today’s hearing included Government Accountability Office (GAO) Strategic Issues Team Director, Yvonne D. Jones, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Chief Human Capital Officer, Angela Baily, and Department of Veterans Affairs Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration, Dan Sitterly.

“We continue to see federal agencies struggle to hire great people in a timely manner,” said Lankford. “The greatest challenge with hiring federal employees is time. Currently, it takes 106 days to fill a vacancy in a federal agency. We all agree this is a problem and yet it continues year after year. To hire the best and the brightest in the federal government we must look at ways to improve the process and speed up hiring. Today is a way to push federal agencies to use the best practices for hiring new employees and to hold those agencies accountable.”

In today’s testimony, GAO noted that 31.6 percent of permanent federal employees on board in September of 2017 will be eligible to retire in the next five years. The projected retirement eligibility rates underscore the importance of effective succession planning, including addressing needs and skills gaps left by retiring employees. This hearing continues the Subcommittee’s focus on workforce challenges for the future. On March 1, 2018, the Subcommittee held a hearing to review the role of federal managers in hiring and prior to that, the Subcommittee held a hearing on September 29, 2016, about federal workforce issues pertaining to the recruitment of millennials and a new generation of federal employees.  

CLICK HERE to view the full hearing video and opening statements.

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