Victoria Redmond
All levels of government — from federal agencies all the way down to cities, towns, and territories — are facing an ongoing struggle to replenish the ranks of their employees as they retire or move on to other jobs, either within government or the private sector. Agencies face increasing pressure to hire, train and retain employees just to keep pace with the growing number of retirements.
Compounding the issue is the complexity of the governmental hiring process. Many of the most attractive candidates for a position wind up taking jobs in the private sector just because they did not get a decision fast enough from an agency. Recognizing the need to improve government hiring, in August OPM released M-24-16, outlines the opportunities for agencies to efficiently secure the next workforce generation.