We are at an inflection point.
The Department of Defense is emerging from a critical juncture—what some are calling the “post-DOGE” era. For those watching closely, this moment isn’t just about recovering from turbulence; it’s about rewriting the talent management playbook entirely. And few have been as candid about where we’ve been—and where we’re headed—as Brynt Parmeter, chief talent management officer at the U.S. Department of Defense.
Where We’ve Been: A System Built on Compliance, Not Capability
DoD HR has historically been compliance-driven, process-obsessed, and service culture-entrenched. From the outside, it often appears that the system is working against itself. Hiring has become a labyrinth of legislation and policy—43 steps just to get someone onboard, 34 of which are mandated by statute, Parameter noted in his remarks at the DoD Cyber Workforce Summit hosted by AFCEA International. Add 11 OPM policies and another 19 layers of “clarification,” and it’s no wonder the average time-to-hire in DoD is 92 days. That’s nearly double the corporate average.
And when the applicants do come? Many drop off the process. Of the 350,000 people who apply to the 40,000 job postings across DoD, only 160,000 are ever reviewed by hiring managers. A whopping 85% of certified candidate lists go unused. Thirteen percent get looked at. Not hired—looked at.
“We have one million hiring managers,” Parmeter says. “But we’ve designed a hiring experience that nobody owns, nobody champions, and nobody understands.” The end result? We built a system to measure compliance, not outcomes.
Who We Are Now: Caught Between Legacy and Urgency
The irony is, demand for DoD careers remains strong. Candidates want in. In a recent pilot program, 97% of applicants said they’d still pursue a civilian career with the Army. That’s loyalty and dedication to the mission the DoD wants to harness if it can get itself, and its process, out of the way.
An area of struggle Parmeter highlighted was employer brand. “It’s mostly built to talk to ourselves” he added. We focus on the values we think matter internally, without translating them to what jobseekers actually care about: impact, flexibility, innovation, purpose, he emphasized.
And let’s not ignore the internal competition. Service-level HR teams often operate in protect-my-budget, protect-my-authorities mode. At the OSD level, cooperation often comes with the caveat: “Are you trying to take something from me?”
It’s time to shift from protection to progress.
The Opportunity Ahead: From Farmers’ Market to Talent Supercenter
Brynt offers a powerful metaphor: today’s hiring model is like a farmers’ market. You show up, you don’t really know what you’ll get, and the supply depends on who happens to be at the stall that day.
What we need is a supercenter—a system where supply and distribution are predictable, optimized, and built around demand. A system where we aggregate the full capacity of our nation’s workforce and funnel it where it’s needed most, when it’s needed most.
This is about creating non-traditional pathways, embracing flexible compensation models, and modernizing partnerships to bring in talent that didn’t grow up in the defense ecosystem—but is eager to serve. “This can be our Oppenheimer moment,” Parmeter says. “If people see others like them serving, they’ll follow. But we need to open the door first.”
What Comes Next: No More Business as Usual
We’re in a time of severe unpredictability. But as any reformer knows, that’s the best time to act. “Never let a crisis go to waste,” Parmeter reminds us. The urgency of the moment gives us permission to pursue the reforms we’ve always known we needed—but were too constrained to try.
What should those reforms look like?
- Hyper-personalized value propositions for every workforce segment.
- Accelerated eligibility pipelines—think 3 days instead of 3 weeks.
- Real branding strategies that resonate with the external market.
- Modern onboarding experiences that feel like a welcome, not a bureaucratic maze.
- Talent strategies that look more like product launches—test, iterate, launch fast.
Because the future of defense talent isn’t just about hiring faster. It’s about hiring smarter, more inclusively, and more flexibly—while staying aligned to mission outcomes.
Disruption brings opportunity. And the real work of building the future starts now.
