Workforce Management

Congress needs ‘private sector buy-in’ to address cyber workforce shortage

Organizations are working to educate and train the next generation of professionals to fill critical cybersecurity vacancies, but private sector firms need to change their hiring practices to integrate this pool of talent into the workforce. 

  • By Edward Graham

TSP participants sue agency over ‘botched’ recordkeeper transition

A class action lawsuit filed last week alleges that the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program repeatedly failed to pay out participants’ withdrawal and loan requests for months following the transition to a new recordkeeping vendor.

  • By Erich Wagner

How DISA plans to use its workforce to combat China and global adversaries

The Defense Information Systems Agency’s Workforce 2025 framework is designed to help the agency attract and retain a workforce that “adapts to the ever-changing landscape of IT and cyberspace.”

  • By Edward Graham

Trump has endorsed a plan to purge the civil service of ‘rogue bureaucrats’

Former Trump staffers have said they have identified 50,000 federal employees who would be ousted under a new iteration of Schedule F during the next Republican administration.

  • By Erich Wagner

OPM unveils new toolkit for agencies to hire cyber talent

A new resource hub from the Office of Personnel Management outlines what benefits agencies might be able to offer to fill cyber positions.

  • By Natalie Alms

A bipartisan bill would make it easier to hire feds during public health emergencies

The measure would also seek to improve interagency collaboration.

  • By Eric Katz

Data and the cyber workforce

The co-chairs of a congressionally mandated report on the cybersecurity workforce say that a new office or bureau should be charged with compiling more granular data on the state of cyber employment.

  • By Natalie Alms

The deadline is here for federal contractors to start paying at least $15 an hour

This comes as a “record number” of states and localities are increasing their minimum wages in 2022.

  • By Courtney Bublé

Diversity and the cyber workforce

Data shows that the federal cybersecurity workforce is less diverse than the government overall, but addressing the disparity will take more than hiring more diverse employees, say DEIA experts and federal tech executives.

  • By Natalie Alms

DISA leans on training collaboration, academic partnerships to build future workforce

The Defense Department's IT agency says "collaborative environment" at U.S. Cyber Command's Dreamport has been key for tech workforce development.

  • By Lauren C. Williams

DHS launches new program to recruit, train climate professionals

The program, designed to recruit recent graduates as well as current federal employees, is one of the department's efforts meant to focus DHS on adapting to climate change.

  • By Natalie Alms

Why self-sufficiency is key to fostering data literacy in the Air Force

The Air Force wants to improve data literacy and culture, so it's creating a cadre of "citizen analysts" and communities of interest to build and then spread their knowledge.

  • By Lauren C. Williams

MSPB passes five-year mark without a quorum

Without a quorum on the Merit Systems Protection Board, the board is unable to issue decisions for appeals, leaving thousands in limbo and a critical part of the civil service system non-functional.

  • By Natalie Alms

OPM prods agencies to name chief diversity officers

The Office of Personnel Management followed up on an executive order on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in a letter released Monday on chief diversity officers. OPM is establishing a forum for these officials, it says.

  • By Natalie Alms
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NGA looks to tech to support unclassified workforce

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is looking to the future with plans to accommodate uncleared employees and to be prepared for "a changing world environment that we don't anticipate," said Mark Andress, the agency's CIO.

  • By Lauren C. Williams

Appeals court deals another blow to Biden's contractor vaccine mandate

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit said in a Wednesday decision that Biden's mandate likely goes beyond authority given in the Procurement Act and denied the administration's request that an injunction in three states be lifted.

  • By Natalie Alms

OPM disputes 2021 court ruling on firing feds for poor performance

Comments from the Office of Personnel Management in a recent rulemaking could change how agencies approach performance improvement plans and termination for cause.

  • By Natalie Alms

Note to managers: A little recognition goes a long way

Steve Kelman shares research on the impact a simple thank-you note can have with the workforce.

  • By Steve Kelman

OPM faces uncertain funding prospects

The federal government’s human resources agency is still dealing with budget shortfalls arising from moving background checks to the Department of Defense, and the prospect of a full-year continuing resolution could exacerbate existing pressures.

  • By Natalie Alms

SCOTUS stays out of contractor mandate case, for now

A special expedited hearing on the authority of two federal agencies to issue nationwide vaccine mandates covering nearly 100 million Americans does not touch on the authority to modify federal contracts to require vaccines for contract employees.

  • By Adam Mazmanian

NDAA requires DOD to report on prospects for a ‘cyber academy’

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) says these reports could inform potential legislation to establish an academy to educate cyber workers for government modeled after military service academies.

  • By Natalie Alms