GAO: Actions needed to improve recruitment, retention of federal workers

Actions are needed to improve recruitment and retention of federal workers in the CNMI and other U.S. territories, Alaska and Hawaii, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office report released last week.

GAO found out that overall federal government employment trends between 2018 and 2023 were similar across the U.S. but varied by contiguous location or connected or next to another.

For instance, GAO noted that during fiscal year 2022, more federal hiring occurred in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and Alaska than in the CNMI, Guam, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

GAO made 12 recommendations for executive action, including that selected agencies evaluate their strategies and efforts on hiring, recruitment, and retention to make any needed improvements; and ensure access to live training in the Insular Areas.

Dawn G. Locke, who is the director for GAO strategic issues, wrote a letter on Tuesday last week about its report to Delegates Gregorio C. Sablan (D-MP), Stacey E. Plaskett (U.S. Virgin Islands), and Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-American Samoa), and Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) and Ed Case (D-Hawaii). The GAO report was attached to the letter.

Locke said federal agencies’ ability to address the nation’s social, economic, and security challenges relies on a workforce that can ensure service delivery to the public across the country, including areas distant from the mainland in Alaska, Hawaii, and the U.S. territories.

Locke said hiring individuals who have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to address both long-standing and emerging issues is critical to helping agencies achieve their missions and better serve the public interest across the globe.

The director said, however, the federal government continues to struggle to compete for workers with the skills needed to address the nation’s challenges, including in the noncontiguous U.S. states and territories.

Locke said these locations are faced with navigating substantial time zone differences, considerable geographic distance, and language diversity.

In GAO’s prior work, they have identified recruiting, hiring, and mission critical skills gaps as challenges facing the federal human capital system.

In April 2022, Sablan, along with Rep. Raul M. Grijalva of Arizona and all insular area congressional delegates, requested for such GAO report, highlighting the challenges of the insular areas face with the absence of current population, economic, labor force, or agricultural data.

Sablan and other insular area congressional delegates requested GAO comptroller Gene L. Dodaro for a review of the data collection gaps related to the U.S. territories.

Locke stated in the letter last week that GAO was asked to review recruitment, hiring, and retention of federal employees in the noncontiguous states and territories.

Locke said this GAO report examines employment trends related to hiring and retention of federal employees in the noncontiguous U.S.

The GAO report also examines selected federal agencies’ experiences efforts.

To address the first objective, GAO analyzed personnel data captured in the Office of Personnel Management’s Enterprise Human Resources Integration database.

To address the second objective, GAO selected five agencies as case illustrations—the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Transportation Security Administration from the Department of Homeland Security, the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service from the Department of the Interior, and the Social Security Administration.

GAO’s analysis of OPM’s Enterprise Human Resources Integration data shows that in fiscal year 2018 there were 166 federal employees in the CNMI and it went down to 153 in fiscal year 2023.

On percentage of hires in CNMI in fiscal years 2018 through 2021 who stayed less than two years, GAO found that retention data was not reported for those periods. GAO said data either included statistics on small groups of hires that were suppressed for privacy reasons, or no hires stayed less than two years.

The report said according to agency staff, CNMI has a relatively small candidate pool and this causes challenges recruiting qualified staff.

On hiring local residents, GAO said according to officials from selected agencies, hiring locals has contributed to retention.

Staff cited that these individuals are already accustomed to the lifestyle in CNMI, and many have a local support system of family and friends.

GAO said agency officials at all of their selected agencies shared that residents covet federal jobs for a variety of reasons, including their stability and benefits, as well as the mission of working for the federal government.

GAO said attrition rates for federal employees were generally similar in both the noncontiguous U.S. being higher than the mainland.

GAO said retention rates for federal employees were generally similar in both the noncontiguous U.S. and the mainland.

GAO said five selected agencies described a variety of socioeconomic, administrative, and geographic challenges that affect recruitment, hiring, and retention of employees in the noncontiguous locations.

Socioeconomic challenges include the high costs of living and relocation, limited opportunities for local career growth, and lack of quality services and infrastructure.

Administrative challenges commonly cited include difficulty with the federal application process, the effective use of hiring authorities and incentives, and headquarters’ staff understanding the needs of staff involved with hiring in these areas.

Geographic challenges included limited local candidate pools and limited access to training in Hawaii and the Pacific territories.

GAO said selected agencies have made efforts to overcome these challenges, however, GAO identified many instances where the agencies’ actions could be improved.

GAO said as an example, staff involved with hiring for the FEMA, FWS, NPA, and TSA cited challenges with their mainland offices understanding the needs in these geographic areas.

GAO said by examining how they solicit and use information on staff experiences, agencies will be better positioned to resolve their concerns.

GAO also noted that FEMA, NPS, and the SSA commonly cited challenges with access to live virtual training at a reasonable time for employees in Hawaii and the Pacific territories.

GAO said without reasonable access to training, agencies may be limiting meaningful and engaging opportunities for their staff, which could affect staff job performance.

FWS, NPS, and TSA agreed with the 12 recommendations. FEMA agreed with the training recommendation and stated that no further action is needed for two recommendations related to recruitment.

GAO, however, maintains that these actions are needed.

GAO’s first two recommendations state that the respective director of the FWS and NPS should examine the effectiveness of the agency’s efforts to communicate information that helps support applicants in the noncontiguous U.S. with the federal hiring process.

The four other recommendations state that the administrator of the FEMA, director of the FWS, director of the NPS, and administrator of the TSA, should evaluate the agencies’ efforts to obtain and use feedback on hiring, recruitment, and retention practices, including human capital flexibilities, from staff in the noncontiguous U.S. to identify and address opportunities for improvement.

According to three more recommendations, the administrator of the FEMA, the director of the FWS, and the commissioner of the SSA, should evaluate the respective agencies’ current recruitment strategies and efforts to identify opportunities to broaden the pool of qualified local candidates across all hard-to-fill noncontiguous areas.

The last three recommendations state that the administrator of the FEMA, director of the NPS, and commissioner of the SSA, should ensure that employees in offices that are outside of the Eastern time zone are able to access live training at a reasonable time, that includes the opportunity to interact with the instructor (s) and peers.