“There has been a stunning loss of expertise, steep declines in morale, little accountability for those at the top, and the State Department still has not achieved a workforce that comes close to reflecting the diversity of our country,” Menendez said. These kinds of resources can take years to develop through these civil servants and Foreign Service officers, and backfilling a position doesn’t necessarily compensate for the knowledge gap caused through attrition,” Cox said.Ĭommittee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) said the decline in State Department staffing has impacted the agency’s international relationships, its work with other federal agencies and its communications with Congress. “Attrition can deplete the department’s institutional knowledge, as well as the diplomatic relationships that are important to foreign policy work. But even in those cases, Cox said the agency won’t be able to replace the valuable diplomatic experience it lost overnight.
#TRUMP HIRI G PROFESSIONAL#
The Partnership’s report highlights short-term goals in hiring, retention and professional development where the Biden administration can see the most immediate results. GAO issued its latest report in January 2020, but its findings reflect many of the same underrepresentation issues GAO identified back in 1989. The Government Accountability Office found overall workforce diversity has improved at the agency, but also concluded that racial minorities were less likely to receive promotions than their white colleagues. The Biden administration, however, will inherit problems that precede the Trump administration. Both are areas where the department needs to make some gains and is seeking to do so.” “Having those different opportunities will attract talent, and many younger people in the job market seek jobs that offer strong professional development opportunities and state-of-the-art technology. “Not everyone is looking for that 30-year career,” Cox said in an interview. It’s making sure that to the best of our ability, we’re building a workforce that has the skill set to deal with the incredibly complex challenges that we’re facing - that are very different than the challenges we faced in previous generations,” Blinken said.īlinken told the committee that he would likely seek additional hiring authorities and increased flexibility to add employees to the agency’s ranks.Ĭhris Cox, a former senior intelligence service executive, now a senior adviser with the Partnership, said the agency should consider recruiting the next generation of talent through clearer career paths and shorter career arcs for employees with technical skills. “It’s not simply a matter of bringing people back, filling the slots that are now empty. In addition to recruiting the next generation of diplomats, Blinken told the lawmakers he’s committed to revitalizing diversity and inclusion efforts that had been on hold by the Trump administration.
The report also shows a steady decrease in employee satisfaction scores over the past decade, as measured by the Partnership’s annual Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings. While the Trump administration’s second Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lifted the hiring freeze early in his tenure and sought to bring “swagger” back to the agency, a recent report from the Partnership for Public Service found the agency saw its first net staff reduction in decades under President Donald Trump.įederal News Network's Cloud Exchange 2023: Discover how agencies across the government use cloud to reimagine government services - from the enterprise to the edge in this 3 day event.
That workforce reduction stems in part from a 16-month hiring freeze led by former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. That workforce reduction stems in part from. As the Biden administration gets up and running, the president’s pick to run the State Department sees an opportunity to revitalize its workforce.Īntony Blinken, President Joe Biden’s nominee for secretary of state who was confirmed Tuesday, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week that workforce attrition and a decline in morale has left the agency with about 1,000 fewer employees than it had four years ago.
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