Reports & Testimonies

In FY 2021, the Department of Defense used three times as much energy as all other federal agencies combined. President Biden issued an executive order in December 2021 requiring federal agencies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, energy and water use, and waste. DOD is working to comply with this executive order. For instance, it is increasing funding for key energy conservation projects. However, we found...

Each year, we make more than 1,000 recommendations to help the federal government save money, address issues on our High Risk List, and significantly improve government operations. This letter to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) outlines 15 open recommendations that it should prioritize. For example, we recommended that OPM ensure that federal agencies have the guidance and technical assistance they need to effectively address...

The demand for commercial airline travel rebounded after the COVID-19 pandemic, heightening the need for pilots and mechanics. But while the number of pilots has grown in recent years, there may not be enough of them to meet airlines' needs in the future. There also may not be enough mechanics to maintain airplanes. To make aviation careers more attractive, airlines and maintenance facilities are offering...

Noncompete agreements can restrict workers from seeking employment with a competitor or from starting a competing business. These agreements can help companies protect confidential information, but they can also lead to less job mobility and lower wages for workers. Employers have historically used these agreements for highly skilled workers and executives with access to trade secrets or other proprietary information. However, employers we surveyed reported...

Artificial intelligence is a rapidly evolving technology that presents operational and workforce challenges for the federal government. We testified on our key practices for the responsible use of AI in federal agencies. The practices are organized around four principles—governance, data, performance, and monitoring. For example, "monitoring" calls for agencies to ensure AI systems remain reliable and relevant over time. Also, there is a severe shortage...

The Coast Guard protects more than 100,000 miles of U.S. coastline and waterways. But the service has reported that it needs more staff and has missed recruiting targets for the past four years. This testimony covers our work on the Coast Guard's recruitment and retention challenges. The service may miss key opportunities to tackle these issues unless it implements plans to address future workforce needs...

The Global Markets unit in the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration helps small- and medium-sized U.S. businesses enter and expand into international markets. We found that the Global Markets unit hasn't developed a comprehensive strategic workforce plan that covers all of its employees. Doing so would help focus priorities across the domestic and overseas workforces. In addition, the unit's human capital office has had vacancies...

Demand for Federal Emergency Management Agency help has increased with more frequent and complex disasters like hurricanes, wildfires, and the COVID-19 pandemic. FEMA is a key federal agency that helps respond to and recover from such disasters. But FEMA has had trouble building a workforce to meet these needs. It has fallen short of its yearly staffing target since 2019—and that gap continues to grow...

The Office of Personnel Management reviews federal agency requests to hire current or recent political appointees for permanent career positions. OPM approved 129 of 187 such requests from Mar. 2016-Jan. 2021. This process helps assure fair competition—free from political influence. But identifying which applicants are current or recent political appointees isn't always easy for agencies. A new law requires OPM to maintain a public website...

Immigration judges at the Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review hold hearings to decide whether foreign nationals may be removed from the U.S. Despite our 2017 recommendation to develop a strategic workforce plan to address current and future staffing needs, EOIR hasn't done so—even though it had a significant and growing backlog of 1.8 million pending cases at the start of FY 2023, more...

This testimony discusses our ongoing review of the workforce challenges facing commercial aviation and steps the industry is taking to address them. Increased demand for commercial airline travel heightens the need for pilots and mechanics. Although the number of pilots has grown in recent years, there may not be enough of them to meet the needs of airlines in the future. There also may not...

The State Department maintains properties at over 275 posts worldwide. As of FY 2020, the properties had a maintenance backlog of $3 billion. State's efforts to address this backlog are complicated by challenges with hiring and retaining maintenance staff. For its maintenance workforce, State has adopted most leading practices in strategic workforce planning. Adopting the remaining practices would help the agency better understand this workforce...

Women remain underrepresented in management roles in the U.S. workforce. Female managers continue to earn less than male managers, but the pay gap varies by industry and demographics. Our analysis of Census data showed that in 2021: 42% of managers were women, but overall women make up 47% of the workforce Female managers were more likely to be younger and more educated, and less likely...

The National Institute of Standards and Technology faces major challenges recruiting and retaining its highly specialized scientific and technical workforce. Such challenges include a dwindling candidate pool and difficulty recruiting a diverse workforce. In a previous report, we identified effective workforce planning strategies to aid recruiting and retention. NIST has partially implemented many of the best practices we identified, such as using incentive payments and...

The federal government needs a highly skilled and specialized workforce to carry out many of its missions, including cybersecurity or acquisitions. Federal agencies look to the Office of Personnel Management for guidance on closing gaps in the skills and experience of their workforces. But OPM has similar gaps of its own that could prevent it from helping other agencies. OPM has taken steps to address...

The Veterans Health Administration provides health care to over 9 million veterans. It is responsible for ensuring that its providers are qualified, competent, and suitable to provide care. The Drug Enforcement Administration requires VHA medical centers to get a waiver before employing anyone with a controlled substance-related felony conviction whose job gives them access to such substances. But VHA doesn't have a waiver policy and...

As the nation's largest employer, the federal government strives to be a model for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA). This snapshot discusses our work in this area from 2017-2022. For example, we've found: Agencies had mixed success in increasing workforce diversity. For example, the Intelligence Community's workforce saw increases in proportions of minorities, but didn't meet federal benchmarks The federal pay gap between men...

The Securities and Exchange Commission oversees financial markets. To do so, it needs to attract and retain a high-quality workforce. We surveyed SEC employees on their views of SEC's personnel management practices. Since 2013, when we first reported on this topic, employees' views on morale and other issues have improved. Employees also have favorable views of SEC's efforts to ensure a diverse and inclusive workforce...