The Office of Personnel Management maintains USAJOBS—a website for posting federal job opportunities from across the government. USAJOBS connects federal agencies with job seekers and facilitates the transfer and merit-based promotions of current federal employees. Since the redesign of USAJOBS in 2016, OPM has assessed and enhanced the user experience with the website. For example, OPM added in...

Forced labor is a global problem affecting millions of people, according to the United Nations. U.S. law prohibits imports produced with forced labor, including seafood. Customs and Border Protection, responsible for enforcement, established a forced labor division in 2018 to focus on identifying such imports. CBP uses information from external sources to help identify seafood imports produced w...

We looked at federal agencies’ efforts to hire and retain individuals with disabilities. Agencies hired about 143,600 persons with disabilities from 2011-2015—exceeding the federal target of 100,000. Agencies made an additional 79,600 hires in 2016 and 2017. About 39% of those with disabilities hired in 2011-2017 stayed less than a year, compared to about 43% of those without disabilities. A...

H-2B visas are intended to help employers fill certain jobs (i.e. landscaping, seafood processing) when no U.S. workers are available. The number of visas is capped and they're generally first come, first served. Employers told us uncertainty over whether the visa process will provide enough workers hampers their operations, including their ability to plan expansions. The Homeland Security and L...

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...

Technology, demographics, and attitudes toward work are evolving. But federal government employment policies were designed generations ago. As a result, the government may struggle to compete for talented workers—which is one reason why federal human capital management is on our High Risk list. We testified on talent management strategies. For example, agencies can: Assess skills gaps to ensur...

Federal law prohibits employers from employment discrimination based on race and gender (among other things). The U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) are the primary agencies that enforce these laws. We testified about challenges these agencies face in ensuring that employers meet equal employment...

Technology, demographics, and attitudes toward work are evolving in the private and public sectors. But federal government employment policies were designed decades ago. As a result, the government may struggle to compete for talented workers—which is one reason why federal human capital management is an issue on our High Risk list. We testified about the state of the federal civil service and...

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...