DOD uses term and temporary appointments to hire civilian personnel for non-permanent positions that have uncertain funding or workload. (Temporary appointments are generally shorter than term appointments.) DOD recently extended the duration of its term and temporary appointments. Term appointments can now last up to 8 years (versus 4 years), and temporary appointments can last up to 3 years (ve...

Each year, we make more than 1,000 recommendations to help improve the federal government. We alert department heads to the recommendations where they can save the most money, address issues on our High Risk List, or significantly improve government operations. This report outlines our 7 priority open recommendations for the Department of Labor as of April 2020. For example, we recommended that L...

The federal government’s Black Lung Disability Trust Fund faces financial challenges and has borrowed billions to cover costs. The Trust pays benefits to certain coal miners when no coal mine operator can be held responsible, or when the liable operator does not pay. Three mine operator bankruptcies have further strained Trust finances by transferring $865 million in estimated benefit responsib...

The Federal Aviation Administration requires aircraft be repaired and approved for flight by mechanics who are “certificated.” FAA oversees the certification process of these mechanics and of repairmen who fix aircraft parts. We testified about federal data on this workforce as well as government and industry programs that support these workers. One of FAA’s goals is to promote the developm...

The National Weather Service is responsible for issuing weather forecasts and warnings to help protect life and property during severe weather events. However, it has faced a number of challenges over the past decade that may hamper its ability to deliver these services. In response, NWS followed a competitive process to hire a contractor (McKinsey & Company) to analyze its operations and workfor...

This is a supplement to our report, Securities and Exchange Commission: Personnel Management Shows Improvement, but Action Needed on Performance Management System, GAO-20-208. It provides the results from our web-based surveys of employees on their views about SEC’s organizational culture and other aspects of working there, such as training, intra-agency communication, leadership, and performanc...

The Securities and Exchange Commission works to protect investors and maintain fair, orderly, and efficient securities markets. To do so, it needs to attract and retain a high-quality workforce. SEC has strengthened its personnel management practices in workforce planning and other areas, but it has not implemented our 2013 recommendation to validate its performance management system by obtaining...

Federal agencies administer employment and training programs to help job seekers find and get work. While we identified 47 such programs in 2011, there are 43 now. Spending for these programs has decreased as well. Multiple programs provide similar services, often to similar groups of people. While agencies have tried to manage this overlap by trying to coordinate their programs, they generally d...

Robots, artificial intelligence, and other advanced technologies are changing the workplace. We visited companies to observe the effects on workers. Effects varied, with some companies reducing their workforces, many moving workers to different roles, and some hiring workers due to increased production or new skill needs. Workforce data doesn't identify the causes of employment shifts, making it...

This testimony looks at trends in the diversity of financial services firms' management and potential talent pools, among other things. From 2007 through 2015, we found that Overall minority representation in management increased from 17.3% to 21% Asian representation increased from 5.4% to 7.7%. Hispanic representation had smaller gains. In contrast, African-Americans representation in managem...