Federal agencies will be required to release time-to-hire figures in compliance with the White House’s May 11, 2010 memorandum Improving the Federal Recruitment and Hiring Process.
The memorandum encourages agencies to decrease the length of time to hire and seeks to measure the quality and speed of the federal hiring process. Agencies are asked to consider the results in an effort to ease hiring and streamline processes.
With growth in defense and intelligence contracts over the past several years the federal government is looking to remain competitive for job seekers. Federal time to hire and complicated hiring processes continue to be seen as barriers for government recruitment of skilled candidates, especially those in competitive industries such as cybersecurity.
“The prior process is already faster,” said Nancy Kichak, OPM’s assistant director for employee services. “From the time the President issued his memo telling us to get going, we’ve been going…They have already simplified the job announcements, have done them in plain English and have done them in a way applicants can understand them.”
While figures and initial reporting are just now being asked for a number of agencies have already gotten a head-start in meeting the goal of an 80-day or less hiring process. The Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, and Veterans Affairs have all made progress in reducing time-to-hire and simplifying the hiring process.
OPM will continue to monitor agency progress and is asking organizations to follow The End to End Hiring Roadmap, which outlines how to streamline the components of the federal hiring process in order to “increase the effectiveness of Federal hiring.” Reporting will begin June 30, 2011 and agencies will continue to report figures to OPM quarterly.
