The Department of Defense (DOD) uses term and temporary appointments to hire personnel to non-permanent positions that have uncertain funding or workload. During fiscal years 2016 through 2019, DOD increased term personnel by 40 percent and decreased temporary personnel by 3 percent, according to GAO analysis. According to GAO analysis of DOD data, during fiscal years 2016 through 2019: (1)Approx

Coal mine operator bankruptcies have led to the transfer of about $865 million in estimated benefit responsibility to the federal government's Black Lung Disability Trust Fund (Trust Fund), according to DOL estimates. The Trust Fund pays benefits when no responsible operator is identified, or when the liable operator does not pay. GAO previously testified in June 2019 that it had identified three

Federal data provide some information on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-certificated aviation maintenance workforce, though certain data limitations exist. FAA maintains data on the number of individuals newly certificated each year, but less is known about how many certificated individuals exit the aviation industry each year and the extent of growing demand. A sufficient supply of ce

The Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) followed a competitive process to select a contractor for the Operations and Workforce Analysis (OWA) project. NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS) initiated this project to, among other things, examine its operations and workforce and develop ideas to help NWS better meet the needs of its core partners, includin

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) employees in the five divisions and four offices GAO surveyed expressed positive views on some aspects of SEC's personnel management but reported concerns in other areas. For example, employees GAO surveyed generally had positive views on their direct supervisors and colleagues—81 percent of nonexecutive employees agreed that their direct supervisors had

Although existing federal data provide useful information on the U.S. workforce, they do not identify the causes of shifts in employment. As a result, it is difficult to determine whether changes are due to firms adopting advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence and robots (see photo), or other unrelated factors. In lieu of such data, GAO analyzed employment trends and characteristi

The number of federal employment and training (E&T) programs and program obligations have declined since GAO's 2011 report. In that review, GAO identified 47 E&T programs and found that 44 had overlap with at least one other program in that they provided similar services to a similar population. In fiscal year 2017, the most recent year data are available, GAO identified 43 E&T programs, or 4 few

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) periodically collects data on and measures contingent, alternative, and electronically-mediated workers in the Contingent Worker Supplement (CWS) of the Current Population Survey (CPS). BLS broadly defines 1) contingent workers as those with temporary employment; 2) alternative workers as those who are independent contractors, on-call workers, temporary help a