Strong Statements from Obama on Federal Hiring Reform
We’ve blogged before about the potential demise of KSAs, as well as other developments in federal hiring. Today, the Washington Post reported on plans by the White House to put pressure on the Office of Personnel Management and other agencies to move forward with meaningful hiring reform, including eliminating KSAs, tightening up the process so it will only take 80 days from posting a position to filling it (rather than the current 140-200), and moving to a system of “category hiring.” The Post explains,
Departments within agencies would also switch to a new system known as “category hiring.” Under this plan, after the Army has screened candidates and hired an accountant, for example, the Navy also could hire from the Army’s list. Currently, the Army picks from the top three candidates and the others must start the process anew, even for a similar position with a different agency in the same department.
These changes will make the federal application process much less painful, and will hopefully help encourage top talent to seek employment in the federal government. As always, PSLawNet will keep you updated as this project moves forward.