[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
THE FUTURE OF FEDERAL WORK II
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND REFORM
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
JULY 21, 2022
__________
Serial No. 117-95
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Printed for the use of the Committee on Oversight and Reform
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available at: govinfo.gov,
oversight.house.gov or
docs.house.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
48-385 PDF WASHINGTON : 2024
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COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND REFORM
CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York, Chairwoman
Eleanor Holmes Norton, District of James Comer, Kentucky, Ranking
Columbia Minority Member
Stephen F. Lynch, Massachusetts Jim Jordan, Ohio
Jim Cooper, Tennessee Virginia Foxx, North Carolina
Gerald E. Connolly, Virginia Jody B. Hice, Georgia
Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin
Jamie Raskin, Maryland Michael Cloud, Texas
Ro Khanna, California Bob Gibbs, Ohio
Kweisi Mfume, Maryland Clay Higgins, Louisiana
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Ralph Norman, South Carolina
Rashida Tlaib, Michigan Pete Sessions, Texas
Katie Porter, California Fred Keller, Pennsylvania
Cori Bush, Missouri Andy Biggs, Arizona
Shontel M. Brown, Ohio Andrew Clyde, Georgia
Danny K. Davis, Illinois Nancy Mace, South Carolina
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Florida Scott Franklin, Florida
Peter Welch, Vermont Jake LaTurner, Kansas
Henry C. ``Hank'' Johnson, Jr., Pat Fallon, Texas
Georgia Yvette Herrell, New Mexico
John P. Sarbanes, Maryland Byron Donalds, Florida
Jackie Speier, California Mike Flood, Nebraska
Robin L. Kelly, Illinois
Brenda L. Lawrence, Michigan
Mark DeSaulnier, California
Jimmy Gomez, California
Ayanna Pressley, Massachusetts
Russell Anello, Staff Director
Wendy Ginsberg, Subcommittee on Government Operations Staff Director
Amy Stratton, Deputy Chief Clerk
Contact Number: 202-225-5051
Mark Marin, Minority Staff Director
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Subcommittee on Government Operations
Gerald E. Connolly, Virginia, Chairman
Eleanor Holmes Norton, District of Jody B. Hice, Georgia Ranking
Columbia Minority Member
Danny K. Davis, Illinois Fred Keller, Pennsylvania
John P. Sarbanes, Maryland Andrew Clyde, Georgia
Brenda L. Lawrence, Michigan Andy Biggs, Arizona
Stephen F. Lynch, Massachsetts Nancy Mace, South Carolina
Jamie Raskin, Maryland Jake LaTurner, Kansas
Ro Khanna, California Yvette Herrell, New Mexico
Katie Porter, California
Shontel M. Brown, Ohio
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Hearing held on July 21, 2022.................................... 1
Witnesses
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Jason S. Miller, Deputy Director for Management, Office of
Management and Budget
Oral Statement................................................... 5
Kiran A. Ahuja, Director, Office of Personnel Management
Oral Statement................................................... 7
Written opening statements and statements for the witnesses are
available on the U.S. House of Representatives Document
Repository at: docs.house.gov.
Index of Documents
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* Letter to OPM; submitted by Rep. Keller.
* Daily Torch Article on DHHS Employees; submitted by Rep.
Clyde.
* Questions for the Record: to Mr. Miller; submitted by
Chairman Connolly.
* Questions for the Record: to Ms. Ahuja; submitted by Chairman
Connolly.
The documents are available at: docs.house.gov.
THE FUTURE OF FEDERAL WORK II
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Thursday, July 21, 2022
House of Representatives
Committee on Oversight and Reform
Subcommittee on Government Operations
Washington, D.C.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:01 a.m., in
room 2154, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Gerald E.
Connolly (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Present: Representatives Connolly, Norton, Davis, Sarbanes,
Lynch, Raskin, Porter, Brown, Hice, Keller, Clyde, and Biggs.
Also present: Representative Beyer.
Mr. Connolly. The committee will come to order. Without
objection, the chair is authorized to declare a recess of the
committee at any time.
I want to welcome everyone to the hearing which seeks to
apply lessons learned during the pandemic to strengthen and
secure our Federal workforce. And I now recognize myself for an
opening statement.
I want to welcome everyone to the hearing dedicated to
examining the future of the Federal workforce and lessons
learned during this pandemic. To do that, we must reflect on
and recognize the heroic work our civil service accomplished
during the deadliest parts of the pandemic especially.
These public servants engaged community-based health
centers in the distribution of lifesaving vaccines; provided
healthcare and services to veterans; delivered the mail,
prescription drugs, food stuffs, and COVID tests; administered
financial assistance to small businesses and millions of
American families to make sure they had food on the table and a
roof over their head. And they fought raging wildfires and
other climate disasters. They administered financial assistance
throughout the country, to state and local governments as well.
While so much has changed over three years, the importance
of our civil service remains indomitable. With that in mind,
two essential pillars drive today's hearing. First, we must
renew our efforts to foster the current Federal workforce to
ensure that they have the resilience and resources necessary to
accomplish agency missions. And second, we need to adopt
policies that educate, attract, and onboard the next generation
of Federal employees.
To support those goals, the Federal Government, including
Congress, must work to provide competitive compensation;
promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and access; support
employees' needs for work-life balance; and encourage
innovation, engagement, and collaboration among agency
leadership and staff to improve agency operations.
Over the past four years, this subcommittee has held
hearings that fought to maintain a merit-based civil service,
ensured robust collective bargaining rights, honored our
frontline Federal workers in the pandemic, explored how to
rebuild the civil service guided by the previous
administration, examine the future of Federal work and how it
holds in store--and what it holds in store for the workforce
itself.
At today's hearing, we pull our research together and our
first strategic vision for the future of the Federal work.
Despite years of efforts, strategic human capital management of
the Federal workforce has landed in the government
Accountability Office's high-risk list for the 21st consecutive
year. GAO notes that myriad items on the high-risk list result
from the Federal Government's inability to close skill gaps and
higher training staff up critically in-demand skills like
cyber, IT, data analytics, and human resources.
Roughly seven percent--seven percent--of the Federal
employees are under the age of 30, compared to 23 percent in
the private sector. Nearly 30 percent of Federal employees are
over the age of 55, with potentially one-third of the Federal
workforce eligible to retire over the next several years,
threatening what has been referred to as a retirement tsunami
for the Federal workforce.
These are staggering numbers. And data from the Bureau of
Labor Statistics shows that the private sector seems to have
cracked the early career talent recruitment code providing a
roadmap for the Federal Government.
If you look at the screen, you will see this discrepancy in
detail. The red bar shows the age distribution of employees
across all sectors, public and private. Watch as the figures
transition to the age distribution to the Federal workforce in
blue. Young employees make up a much smaller fraction of the
Federal Government than they do in other sectors nationwide.
The workforce is the lifeblood of our Federal Government.
Without people committed to public service, taxpayers,
vulnerable populations, small businesses, and others will not
be able to get the resources and services they need. If we fail
to attract and hire the best and brightest in Federal service,
our Nation suffers, our constituents suffer.
To avoid that fate, we crafted the NexGen Feds Act, which
leverages Federal internships to build a robust cadre of early
career talent that reflects this Nation's one tool, but an
important tool.
In addition to early career talent, the Federal Government
must ensure the current talent can perform its work regardless
of the context. Throughout the pandemic, agencies embraced
telework and remote working arrangements, and it worked.
Agencies delivered critical services across the country, not
without problems.
This subcommittee worked, on a bipartisan basis, to help
agencies caught flat-footed at the start of the pandemic by
investing in technologies that facilitate a continuity of
operations. We must heed the lessons learned and maintain the
advantages of telework as laid out in the Telework Metrics and
Cost Savings Act, a bill developed in partnership with Mr.
Sarbanes of Maryland, and building upon this subcommittee's
long history of support for telework, including the Telework
Enhancement Act of 2010.
Unfortunately, we learned some pandemic lessons a little
too late. An early failure by the previous administration to
adopt consistent, clear, and effective safety guidelines led to
a number of Federal workers contracting and, tragically in some
cases, succumbing to the coronavirus pandemic while serving
this Nation.
One of those civil servants was my constituent Chai
Suthammanont. Chai worked in the kitchen of the daycare
facility at the Marine barracks in Quantico. When the pandemic
hit, Chai worked in a tight kitchen space with additional
staff, where he was exposed to someone who had coronavirus
symptoms. He then tested positive for COVID-19, and within a
few weeks he was dead.
This morning, I introduced an updated version of the Chai
Suthammanont Act, seeking to codify safety procedures for the
Federal workforce across the board, extending beyond the COVID-
19 pandemic. Specifically, the bill would require the heads of
every Federal agency to establish a plan containing procedures
and policies for the safety of Federal employees, contractors,
and subcontractors physically present at any covered worksite
during the nationwide public health emergency. It would ensure
that employees are made aware of expectations, procedures, and
policies that can protect them.
Further, Congress and the Biden Administration must make
sure that every Federal job is a good job. This year, the
Administration called for a pay increase of 4.6 percent, the
largest annual Federal employee pay raise in 20 years. I
implore the Administration, however, to implement a 5.1 percent
pay raise consistent with the FAIR Act I introduced earlier
this year, which has 60 congressional co-sponsors. This pay
raise keeps the Federal Government competitive with the private
sector and deals with the inflation rate.
Finally, we must ensure that our civil service is vested
with expertise and not populated by political appointees alone.
A Sharpie should not dictate how our Federal agencies allocate
first responders in the aftermath of a hurricane. We must not
ignore the blazing evidence of climate change destroying
communities and taking lives all across the globe even as we
speak.
Our expert civil service is a crown jewel. Protections are
warranted. Actions to remove those protections threaten the
civil service and, I believe, the foundations of democratic
society. I've introduced preventing a patronage system act to
put Congress in charge of which Federal employees receive civil
service protection. Enactment of the bill, which was included
in the House-passed Fiscal Year 2023 Defense Authorization Act
would ensure that data and evidence undergird our policies.
I thank our witnesses for appearing today and look forward
to implementing our vision of civil service; empowering to
serve individuals, families, communities, states, and this
Nation without regard to political affiliation.
With that, I now recognize the ranking member for his
opening Statement.
Mr. Hice. Thank you very much, Chairman Connolly. I
appreciate you calling this hearing.
And I am grateful to have here joining us the OPM
Administrator and deputy director to testify. This is
unfortunately, but an all too infrequent occurrence in
Congress, as was the case when the IRS Commissioner was here.
I deeply appreciate the chance to ask questions regarding
administrative policies to those who are responsible. And so I
thank each of you for being here as well today.
Today's hearing is supposed to focus on the future of the
Federal workforce of how to make the Federal Government a model
employer. Too often, ``model employer,'' that phrase is just,
frankly, a catchphrase for treating Federal workers like a
privileged and protected class. Looking over the testimoneys,
the Biden Federal workforce policies are in many ways just
another platform for leftwing agenda and promotion of that type
of thing. And I feel it's unfortunate. I want to give some
examples.
The emphasis is on creating more perks for Federal workers,
increasing pay, shielding them from accountability, and
promoting public sector unions.
Raising minimum wage for Federal employers, much less
employees, let's be honest, who pays for that? Well, it's the
American people? The Biden Administration also never misses an
opportunity to promote unions. It seems the attitude is jobs
are not good unless it's involving a good quality union.
In the Federal agencies, unions are front and center. And I
can say, and I know the chairman knows, that since I came to
Congress, I've tried to fight to reduce the amount of time
Federal employees spend on union activities. They need to do
the jobs they were hired to do. First and foremost, Federal
employees are here to serve the public, not organize labor. I
have fought through such things as the Accountable Feds Act,
for example, to make sure that Federal employees are indeed
accountable, so they can face discipline or removal if their
performance warrants it. But the Biden Administration, to them
and to many of my other colleagues, it seems more important to
create knots in the process and obstacles that are designed to
ensure that it's just too difficult to deal with poor
performers.
I support Schedule F, which ensures Federal employees
cannot thwart the policies that the American people voted for
if they don't agree with them. Look, these are valid concerns,
but Democrats seem to dismiss them altogether.
As we look at retention and recruitment challenges, just
common sense tells us that we should not forget that talented
workers do not want careers picking up the slack for poor
performers. There must be accountability. And not to have it is
destructive across the board.
The Biden Administration has also moved to expand
alternative working arrangements, like telework and remote
work, and to make these things permanent. Never mind--and this
is something we've been calling for, for a long time--there has
been no assessment of how telework impacts agency performance.
Why would we make something permanent that we haven't even
checked into as to its effectiveness?
Never mind that in the State of the Union, President Biden
said himself that government would lead by example and that
Federal workers would soon be back in the office. Well, they're
still not back in the office.
When Ranking Member Comer and I wrote asking when Feds
would return, OPM stated Federal employees would continue in a
mix of in-office and telework arrangements.
So what changed after the State of the Union? Quite
frankly, it doesn't appear that anything changed. But I can
tell you we continue still hearing from our constituents, and
the fact is that many of them could not get services from
agencies like the VA or Social Security because no one was in
the office. This is inexcusable.
Again, we are here to serve the public, not the other way
around. It's a matter of good government to have a grasp on the
real and potential impacts that teleworking and remote working
would have before we make it permanent. And how do we know that
OPM has the ability or the intent to monitor compliance with
telework policies? How will we know whether workers have been
scattered to the four winds with no intention of returning, and
yet they continue to draw locality pay from high-cost areas?
Finally, OPM Director Ahuja says that all employees should
be treated with dignity and respect--something that we all
agree with--but are Federal workers still subjected to hostile
work environments under the guise of racial sensitivity
training?
Look, I do have concerns. I do also have areas of
agreement. I certainly support more skill-based hiring as
embodied in my Chance to Compete Act. OPM and Chairman Connolly
also share this view. I also believe we should make military
spouses a focus of Federal hiring efforts. But, again, the
bottom line, the Federal workforce issues cannot be a one-sided
conversation. There has to be accountability, there has to be
oversight, not just extra perks, extra pay, and extra
protection.
Again, the Federal workforce exists to serve the American
public, and the American people do not exist to serve the
Federal workforce.
I thank you. I look forward to our time together.
And, with that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Mr. Hice.
I would like to now introduce our witnesses. Our first
witness for today is deputy director for the Office of
Management and Budget, Jason Miller. Our second witness is the
director of the Office of Personnel, Kiran Ahuja.
If you would both rise and raise your right hand to be
sworn in.
Do you swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to
give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the whole
truth, so help you God?
Let the record show both witnesses answered in the
affirmative. Thank you.
Without objection, your full written statements will be
made part of the record.
And, with that, Mr. Miller, you're now recognized for your
five minutes of testimony. Welcome.
STATEMENT OF JASON S. MILLER, DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR MANAGEMENT,
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
Mr. Miller. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Chairman Connolly, Ranking Member
Hice, members of the committee. I appreciate the opportunity to
be here to speak to you, and I'm proud to be doing so alongside
my friend and colleague, Kiran Ahuja.
Director Ahuja and I, with our teams, have worked shoulder-
to-shoulder under this Administration to harness the potential
of the Federal Government to be a model employer in order to
deliver for the American people, and in so doing, to tackle
longstanding challenges facing the Federal workforce.
As the deputy director for management at the Office of
Management and Budget, I am responsible for overseeing
governmentwide management matters, including broad Federal
workforce policy. I serve as the chair of the President's
Management Council, or PMC, which is composed of the deputy
secretaries, deputy administrators of the CFO Act agencies, as
well as Director Ahuja, the GSA Administrator, and the Cabinet
Secretary. The PMC is particularly focused on the Federal
workforce.
I've submitted longer formal testimony for the record. I
will highlight several key points.
First, I want to start with the point that should be
obvious but has not been a consistent focus across
administrations: The Federal Government's greatest asset is its
people. The strength of any organization rests on its people.
And to deliver for the public, we must systematically approach
the Federal workforce and its challenges as critical to our
success as a Nation.
The more than 4 million public service servants at home and
abroad, including military personnel and more than 2 million
Federal civilians, are dedicated and talented. They serve the
public regardless of political affiliation or who sits in the
White House.
Second, employers are in fierce competition for talent, and
the Federal Government needs to compete. Our workforce has
chosen public service. We need to retain our workforce. We also
need to ensure a strong pipeline that is bringing more talent
into government to address attrition and to tap into the skill
sets and capacity needed to deliver for the American people.
Third, our Federal workforce faces a number of key
challenges, some of which have been highlighted, including
demographics, with only eight percent of our Federal civilian
workforce under the age of 30, 15 percent currently eligible
for retirement today, a further 30 percent eligible for
retirement within five years, and with real work to do to
ensure that the Federal workforce reflects the diversity of the
public we serve.
Employee engagement, which tends to correlate to
organizational performance and for which, on average, the
Federal Government has lower levels than the private sector.
And critical skills, such as technology, cybersecurity, and
data analytics, among a number of other key skill sets. Across
all three dimensions and others, we need to improve.
Improvement will take time. It will take commitment,
leadership, and collaboration with the Congress.
Fourth, some have argued the challenges we face require a
fundamental overhaul of the merit system that underpins our
civil service. I disagree. The merit system principles remain
essential today. The question is how do we hold true to those
principles while delivering much needed change on hiring,
retention, engagement, pay and benefits, critical skills, early
career talent and internships, culture, leadership, diversity,
equity, inclusion, and accessibility, and on the workplace and
personnel policies that will help the Federal Government, a
mission-driven organization, remain an attractive and
competitive employer.
Fifth, the Administration has made strengthening and
empowering the Federal workforce the first priority in the
President's Management Agenda, or PMA. This central focus on
the workforce is a significant action and a significant signal.
The workforce efforts of our PMA build on Administration
actions taken to date and include four clear strategies:
attracting and hiring talent, making every Federal job a good
job, building a roadmap to the future of Federal work, and
ensuring the strong central personnel system and support
required for the Federal Government to be a model employer, all
of which is driven by performance, performance of our agencies
on behalf of the public they serve.
Before discussing the challenges and opportunities, I want
to say thank you to the Federal workforce for choosing to serve
your fellow Americans and for stepping up throughout the COVID-
19 pandemic when the country leaned on you more than ever, at
times at great personal costs. We do not say thank you enough
to those who have dedicated themselves to public service at all
levels. Thank you.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear here today, and I
look forward to your questions.
Mr. Connolly. Twenty-five seconds to go. Great job, Mr.
Miller. Thank you. And thank you for recognizing internships,
because that's the one piece we can fix fairly swiftly.
Ms. Ahuja, you are recognized for your five minutes of
testimony. Welcome.
STATEMENT OF KIRAN A. AHUJA, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF PERSONNEL
MANAGEMENT
Ms. Ahuja. Thank you.
Chairman Connolly, Ranking Member Hice, and members of the
subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to testify today on the
future of Federal employment and OPM's work over the past year.
At OPM, we're focused on equipping Federal agencies with
the tools they need to make every Federal job a good job,
attract top talent, and strengthen Federal personnel practices
and policies, all to create a more effective and efficient
Federal Government. It is my honor to lead OPM in this
important work. I look forward to highlighting our
accomplishments over the past year.
First, I want to recognize the entire Federal workforce,
both those who worked onsite throughout the pandemic and those
who adapted quickly to new ways of working, for their
commitment to mission and service to the American people.
I am also pleased that my colleague and friend, Jason
Miller, from the Office of Management and Budget, is here
today. Jason continues to be a critical and like-minded partner
in OPM's efforts to execute its mission.
I want to focus on three important ways OPM serves as a
strong, strategic partner to agencies and put the goals of the
President's Management Agenda into action. First, promoting
retention by making every Federal job a good job. Second,
attracting much needed talent to the Federal workforce. And
third, strengthening the workforce for now and into the future.
The Federal Government's most important asset is its
people. Particularly in the current labor market, government
must retain the expertise, commitment, and knowledge of Federal
workers. OPM is aggressively working to help make every Federal
job a good job and ensure that the Federal Government, as the
Nation's largest employer, is adopting employment practices
that set the pace for other sectors to follow.
For instance, OPM executed the President's vision on the
$15 minimum wage for Federal employees, immediately raising the
pay for more than 67,000 workers, many of whom have been on the
front lines throughout the pandemic and have been across this
country. We also partnered with USDA and the Department of
Interior on key provisions of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
that increased wildland firefighter pay and created a new
occupational series. And we issued comprehensive guidance to
agencies which outlined actions they should take working with
unions to implement Executive Order 14003.
OPM is also working to attract top talent to the Federal
Government. We're improving competitive hiring across the
government through a focus on skills-based hiring. In May, OPM
issued critical guidance to help agencies implement this
vision. We're also working closely with agencies to bring on
staff needed to implement key provisions of the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law. I look forward to leveraging the lessons
learned to support hiring initiatives across the government.
And we're working to implement the President's executive order
on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.
The Federal Government is at its best when drawing from all
parts of society. Our greatest accomplishments often result
when diverse perspectives join together to overcome our
greatest challenges. This all leads me to what steps we can
take to prepare the Federal workforce for the future.
A key lesson from recent years is that workplace
flexibilities, such as telework, remote work, and hybrid work
schedules, help ensure Federal operations continue in the face
of disruptions and improve employee engagement and morale. We
look forward to providing agencies with additional resources to
chart a path forward.
I also recognize that the Federal Government must capture
and promote innovation. OPM hopes to work with this
subcommittee to streamline and strengthen existing
demonstration project authority to foster further innovation.
We also want to work with Congress to develop a governmentwide
cyber workforce plan that puts agencies on equal footing and
competing for cyber talent.
Additionally, like the private sector, the Federal
Government needs flexibility to offer competitive pay to retain
and recruit its workforce and execute agency missions. This
would include critical pay--critical position pay and
incentives for highly skilled experts needed to solve critical
agency challenges, flexibility on special pay rate limitations,
and more ability for agencies to determine incentive award
levels on their own.
I'm proud of what OPM has accomplished during the past
year, and I'm excited about what's to come.
I want to again thank Chairman Connolly, Ranking Member
Hice, and the members of the subcommittee, for the opportunity
to testify today. I look forward to your questions.
Mr. Connolly. Thank you so much, Director Ahuja, and right
on time. Great job.
We're now going to move into members' questions. Because of
her schedule, the chair is going to switch with the gentlelady
from Ohio, one of the most faithful members of the
subcommittee, Shontel Brown, for five minutes of questioning.
And, Ms. Norton, then you'll be the next on our side. Thank
you.
Ms. Brown, you are recognized for your five minutes of
questioning.
Ms. Brown. Thank you, Chairman Connolly and Ranking Member
Hice, for holding this hearing, and my, colleague Congresswoman
Norton, for allowing me to switch places here this morning.
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on workers in every
sector. For more than two years, workers have had to constantly
adapt to changing circumstances in their personal lives and
working arrangements, all while trying to mitigate the dangers
of the deadly and ever-changing virus. These circumstances
have, in many cases, exacerbated existing challenges that
workers face related to their mental health and well-being.
In May, the Office of Personnel Management released
guidance for agencies to raise awareness of mental health
benefits and services available to Federal employees.
Ms. Ahuja, one of the goals of the President's agenda is
for agencies to, quote, raise awareness of available mental
well-being, support, and services. Can you explain what some of
these available services are and how agencies have been raising
awareness following OPM's guidance?
Ms. Ahuja. Thank you, Congresswoman, for that question. And
I equally share in the concerns of the well-being of the
Federal workforce, their morale, especially during this really
trying period. I think more than ever this pandemic has really
shone the light on the importance of mental health and well-
being.
And so in May, which is Mental Health Awareness Month, we
issued guidance that we wanted to share, and we did share,
across the Federal Government. In many ways, we do a lot of
this through the CHCO Council, which is the great partnership
that we have with leaders in H.R. across government, ensuring
that agencies have the tools and resources that they need.
In addition, I just wanted to emphasize as well that our
Federal health program or health benefits program has for a
number of years really pushed for mental health parity and
coverage for those services. And the important piece of this
is, especially around the time of the pandemic, that we had a
number of our Federal employees utilize telehealth, with almost
40 percent using that for mental health counseling. So we
continue to see that as an important resource.
Finally, I'd just like to mention that Employee Assistance
Programs, or EAPs, are a critical part of the Federal
Government services. We are working to revamp that program to
ensure that there is continuity and standards of programming
and that we are really encouraging agency leadership, as well
as Federal Government employees, to utilize these programs.
Ms. Brown. Thank you, Ms. Ahuja. And how are you making
sure the workers are aware of these services that are--and
promoting them, the services?
Ms. Ahuja. Well, a big part of the work we're doing, like I
mentioned is through the CHCO Council and their leadership. We
are encouraging, you know, constant communication by leadership
through townhalls, through written communication, through the
H.R. departments. There is a separate office within OPM that is
focused on mental health awareness and also mental health
services across the Federal Government. So a big part of their
job is ensuring that our H.R. departments and every agency have
those tools.
Again, Congresswoman, I do want to emphasize that I would
love to work with you on these Employee Assistance Programs,
because I do believe that they are going to be the key to
encouraging greater engagement on mental health resources,
really removing the stigma that I think at times is often
attached to these programs, and would appreciate a partnership
and, of course, resources to be able to expand our effort in
that regard.
Ms. Brown. Thank you for that.
And one thing that we've learned from the pandemic is that
workers value communication and get clear guidance from the
organization. So, Mr. Miller, how is OPM working to ensure that
agencies develop, communicate, and implement clear guidance for
employees that prioritizes their well-being and resilience?
Mr. Miller. Congresswoman, thank you for your attention to
this issue more broadly. And on the specifics of communication,
you're absolutely right, good internal communication is
critical, particularly at challenging times, times of change,
and those times are definitely right now. This is something
that we've been very focused on.
As you know, as I mentioned, the President's Management
Council is the chief operating officers, deputy secretaries,
and deputy administrators of all of the agencies. The specifics
of what Director Ahuja noted around actions that OPM has taken
were communicated out to all of the PMC members, with the
directions to ensure that they were using that through internal
communication channels.
More broadly, we've been encouraging regular
communications. We have public information available regarding
health and safety protocols, well-being, et cetera, that we
made public, but this time of change is critical. It's an area
that Federal agencies need to improve. With regards to internal
communication, it's absolutely central if we want to focus on
the Federal workforce.
Ms. Brown. Well, thank you. I see my time has expired. I
just want to squeeze in that I'm a proud sponsor of the
Connolly's bill that would codify well-being and safety
procedures for Federal workforces across the board extending
beyond COVID-19 pandemic and any emerging public health crisis.
So, with that, Chairman, I yield back. And thank you again,
Delegate Norton.
Mr. Connolly. I thank the gentlelady, and I thank her for
her co-sponsorship of that important piece of legislation.
The ranking member, Mr. Hice from Georgia, is recognized
for his five minutes of questioning.
Mr. Hice. Thank you very much.
Director Ahuja, in my opening statement, I made reference
to the Biden Administration, in my opinion, not taking enough
steps and actions to ensure that poor performers within the
Federal agencies can be disciplined or removed without undue
burden. And look, it's not just me. Year after year, Federal
employees themselves say that poor performers are not handled
effectively.
So first question, am I missing something? What is the
Biden Administration doing to hold poor performers accountable?
Ms. Ahuja. Thank you, Ranking Member Hice. It's good to
meet you. Also a fellow Georgian, I might say.
Mr. Hice. Go Dawgs.
Ms. Ahuja. Yes, exactly.
So I share your concern, and I really do appreciate your
commitment to the Federal workforce in ensuring accountability
and, of course, the welfare. I will say that in the case of
concerns around accountability and poor performance, you know,
it is a private matter that takes place in agencies. So
oftentimes, for example, through the FEVS scores, which I'm
familiar with, that is often not a purview that employees, you
know, may know about within their particular work unit.
I will also say that, you know, a big part of the work
we're doing is to ensure that we're giving managers the tools
in order to measure performance, to be more metric-driven in
how they are judging performance of their employees, that they
are--and also ensuring the level of, you know, engagement. You
know, our biggest sort of note here is that when a workforce or
a member is engaged and put in the right position with the
right set of tools and skills, oftentimes you are managing for
that performance.
Mr. Hice. Well, with that, if I could ask, with that
information, the data that you're gathering, does any of it
show how the inability to deal with poor performers impacts the
other good performers?
Ms. Ahuja. Well, I will say, in the most recent FEVS, that
the scores actually did--are quite, you know, quite good with
employees being recognized for the work that they're doing. So
good performers--outstanding performers are being recognized,
and that is shown in the FEVS 2020----
Mr. Hice. But no info of how the poor performers impact the
good performers.
Let me jump over, Mr. Miller, to you. Are you aware of any
assessments that were taken from the Biden Administration,
primarily, regarding the impact of telework before it was
implemented? I mean, how--did we do any studies to determine
how this would impact agencies?
Mr. Miller. Congressman, thank you for your attention to
this. And I completely share your view on performance and
accountability. That's our North Star, so the performance to
Federal agencies through this changing time. The entire labor
market is going through a significant amount of change. Part of
what we need to manage through is making sure that we're
competitive as personnel workplace policies are changing writ
large.
One of the things that we undertook last year was a
comprehensive strategic planning process----
Mr. Hice. All right. But, please, I only have a few
minutes. But my question was, was there any assessment done to
determine how teleworking would impact agencies?
Mr. Miller. We've been managing, and agencies are required
to manage and report their annual performance plans of
organizational units, including those that roughly half of
Federal employees that expanded the use of telework during the
pandemic. So managing performance and assessing performance at
an agency in an operational unit is something that's been done.
That's also something that we've provided guidance on last year
in our guidance to agencies in June to both build evidence,
plans, and develop data around the performance of the unit,
including the use of telework.
Mr. Hice. I'd like to see that data. If you could send it
to us, I would like to see what you've determined.
As I mentioned earlier, the President said in his State of
the Union that Federal workers were going to return back to
work, and that has not been the case. In fact, telework and
remote work is expanding, and that's a bit concerning to me.
I don't have much time left. Director Ahuja, let me just
ask this. You may or not have seen this, but a recent report
claims that as many as one-quarter of HHS employees never even
logged into their emails for the first 10 months of COVID. I
mean, this has to have an enormous impact on an agency, if
these reports are correct. I mean, how in the world can we have
Federal employees not even look at their emails for 10 months?
What is the American public out there doing while they're
waiting 10 months for somebody to even look at an email?
I really want to see the assessment, the data that you've
come up with. Is there anything that we know how much work was
or was not done by Federal employees during COVID?
Ms. Ahuja. Could I proceed? I know we're--OK. Great. Thank
you.
Mr. Hice. Let's let the--Chairman?
Ms. Ahuja. OK. Thank you.
Mr. Connolly. Sorry. The director may respond.
Ms. Ahuja. Thank you.
Can I just say first and foremost, I understand your
concern. You know, I would like to really point out the
incredible resilience of the workforce across the board. You
know, I'm not aware of the particular incident that you
mentioned, but I'm sure you're aware more than 50 percent of
the workforce during the pandemic and now showed up every
single day because that is what their work required to do. So
we're talking about a subset of the workforce that are now, you
know, utilizing some of these workplace flexibilities in a way,
like my colleague Jason Miller has mentioned, in order to
optimize customer service and operations, as well as continue
to have those employees stay in their organizations.
I will tell you, we have a real competition out there with
the private sector because they're employing these same
workplace flexibilities. So we need to do it in a way that's
going to ensure that we keep, retain, and we recruit, as well
as ensure around performance and accountability as you speak
to.
Mr. Connolly. The gentleman's time has expired.
But let me, if I may, Mr. Hice, piggyback, Ms. Ahuja or Mr.
Miller, I think we have to establish, whether it's fact or not,
is it true that 25 percent of the HHS employees did not even
respond to a single email for 10 months, the first 10 months of
the pandemic?
Mr. Miller. This is the first I have heard of that
instance.
Mr. Connolly. All right. So I would ask respectfully if you
could get back to the subcommittee with that one, because it
sounds like one of those urban myths, but we certainly want to
get to the bottom of it. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Hice. And that report will be submitted.
Mr. Connolly. Yes, yes, yes. OK. And we will get the
response circulated. I thank you for bringing it up.
The Congresswoman from the District of Columbia, Ms.
Norton, is recognized for her five minutes of questions. And
thank you for your patience.
Ms. Norton. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for this very
important hearing, particularly coming now as we are hopefully
coming out of the pandemic.
The pandemic forced agencies to confront outdated workforce
policies and legacy information technology systems unprepared
to facilitate their execution of their mission. So now is the
opportunity for the Federal Government to try to figure out
what worked and what didn't during the pandemic.
I understand the private sector is making the same
decisions. To remain a model employer and attract and retain
the best talent, the Federal Government certainly must adapt.
Mr. Miller, what do you understand to be the state of the
Federal workforce, looking at both morale and engagement?
Mr. Miller. Congresswoman, thank you for that question.
Thank you for your focus on the Federal workforce.
As I said at the top, I think we need to start with a
recognition that our workforce is our single greatest asset.
Prior to this role, as the CEO of the Greater Washington
Partnership, a regional organization made up of employers in
Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, the leaders
of those organizations across industry, their No. 1 focus was
talent, their workforce, how they were retaining talent, how
they were attracting talent, how they were building pipelines.
It's something that Federal agencies need to focus on more; one
of the reasons that we made strengthening upon the Federal
workforce the first priority in the President's Management
Agenda.
As we've noted, the Federal workforce was called on more
than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic, and like many in the
country, at great sacrifice. Our workforce has been resilient.
Our workforce has faced a high workload. One area, in certain
parts of the government, agency leaders are focused on is
avoiding burnout risk. And it is clear, both from the data that
we've gathered through employee surveys and what we've seen
publicly, our workforce is absolutely dedicated to the mission
of serving the American people.
Ms. Norton. So the morale and the engagement was not
affected by the pandemic?
Mr. Miller. What we've seen in the engagement and one of
the things we did was launch the first ever governmentwide
pulse survey so that we had regular information from the
Federal workforce regarding how they were doing. We've seen
sustained employee engagement level across the Federal
workforce, showing their resilience, showing the ability to
adjust to working arrangements across agencies.
I would note that our employee engagement level, on
average, is not where it should be in the Federal workforce. We
are below the private sector. That is a risk. That is a risk to
retention. That is a risk to performance going forward.
Ms. Norton. Important to note.
In November of last year, the Biden Administration released
a blueprint of the President's Management Agenda, highlighting
the need for government to deliver for all Americans by
focusing on critical areas of bold transformation.
Ms. Ahuja, President Biden has designated you as a priority
area leader for the PMA's first category, strengthening and
empowering the Federal workforce. How are you advancing this
priority of the PMA to improve the delivery of services to the
American public?
Ms. Ahuja. Thank you, Congresswoman, for that question. And
I appreciate your leadership.
First, let me just use this as a point of privilege to
thank my colleague, Mr. Jason Miller, for his leadership on the
President's Management Council. His level of dedication is very
awe-inspiring and his commitment. I speak that similar
sentiments for the entire President's Management Council; all
the deputy secretaries, deputy administrators.
When we set out the PMA, there was no question that we were
going to put--first and foremost out in center was the
workforce, to strengthen and empower the Federal workforce. I'm
excited and really honored that OPM is leading that effort.
You know, I talked about this in my oral statement. I'll
just mention again. You know, really, the real pillars of this
priority area, one is attracting talent. And, of course, early
career talent is really first and foremost. I appreciate
Chairman Connolly's attention to these issues. I think it's
important, and we have impressed upon our colleagues the
importance of building a pipeline.
The second is every Federal job should be a good job. You
know, we have huge competition out there, and we really suffer
on the lower end and higher ends within the Federal Government
in recruiting the kinds of skilled talent that we need.
And, finally, the focus of this particular pillar around
strengthening and empowering the workforce is focused on the
future of work. We have to be in line with really where every
other sector is going. There's a work revolution upon us, and
either we're part of it or we're behind it.
Ms. Norton. Thank you.
Mr. Miller, what is this Administration's vision for
investing in the current workforce and for recruiting and
retaining the next generation of civil servants?
Mr. Connolly. I would ask the gentleman to return to that
subject, but the gentlelady's time has expired.
The gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. Keller, is recognized
for his questioning.
Mr. Keller. Thank you, Chairman Connolly, Ranking Member
Hice, and to our witnesses for being here today.
During the State of the Union address this year in 2022,
President Biden said it's time for America to get back to work.
People working from home can feel safe again and begin
returning to their offices. So I hope that the President has
that same feeling for the people who derive their checks from
the taxpayers.
You know, because to the contrary, to the President's
statement, agencies within the Federal Government continue to
prolong telework policies that have resulted in bureaucratic
paperwork nightmares, including a three-year tax processing
pileup at the IRS.
So, Mr. Miller, I'll start with a question. How has
telework affected the efficiency of Federal agencies?
Mr. Miller. Thank you, Congressman. And as noted,
undoubtedly, the focus for us is performance. That is the North
Star, agencies delivering on their mission, and they are
delivering for the people that they serve. That we have
specific areas--you noted the IRS that has faced challenges to
the pandemic. As I understand it, the Treasury Department has
been providing regular updates on the progress that the IRS is
making, but they need to do more.
One of the challenges that we faced with the IRS is
multiple years of chronic underfunding. So then they stepped
into a unique situation without the staffing, without the
resources, without the flexibility to adjust. We need to make
improvements. They're making improvements.
One of the things we did for the IRS, a combination of OMB
and OPM, was made sure that they had flexibility and resources
and the ability to hire thousands of new employees to try and
address the challenges and the backlogs that they were facing.
Mr. Keller. Well, I will just--you know, we're talking
about teleworking. The question I would have is, what was the
backlog prior to the pandemic--and everybody's going to say it
made it worse--but have we become more efficient? I don't know
whether we measure that or not, efficiency in clearing cases.
But, you know, we're going to talk about telework and what
we're doing here. You know, Members of Congress don't even have
to be in D.C. And if you want to see how inefficient telework
can be, particularly when you're dealing with the Federal
Government, all anybody has to do is watch the footage of this
committee's markup yesterday. Quite frankly, it was pathetic.
It took over two years to pass a bill that will return
National Archives records administration employees to the
office to process a 600,000 request backlog of paperwork that
did not--that had not been digitized. How are current telework
policies affecting agencies' customer service abilities? Mr.
Miller?
Mr. Miller. Great. Thank you, Congressman. One of the
things that I think is important is, did we have the right
systems in place to have flexibility? Did we have digitized
records? Did we have digitized processing?
The second pillar, the second priority area of the
President's Management Agenda is delivering excellent services
and customer experiences. We're increasing the measurement of
that. We're reporting that broadly. We have designated 35 high-
impact service providers. We work with each of them to improve
services. This is a major focus. Some of it is making sure our
agencies have the tools to deliver across, across the
government, across the public that they serve, and be able to
measure it from the experience of the individual, not from the
experience of the silo or the bureaucratic organization that is
delivering that service.
Mr. Keller. Well, I guess I just have another question on a
concerning note of OPM backlog of unprocessed retirement claims
for Federal employees. It recently hit a high of 35,424 backlog
in February, according to the OPM data. This problem is hurting
Pennsylvania correctional officers and other Federal employees'
ability to receive their full annuity upon retirement.
Since we're short on time, I'd like to submit a letter I
sent to the Office of Personnel Management back on April 8 into
the record.
Mr. Connolly. Without objection.
[The information
Mr. Keller. Thank you.
Ms. Ahuja, what is the current status of the issue, and
what is OPM's plan to resolve the backlog for these records?
Ms. Ahuja. Thank you, Congressman. And let me just first
say that I share in the concern around the backlog. Federal
retirees and families deserve the best customer service, and
that is what I am committed to.
I will mention that we're managing a backlog in the midst
of a surge in retirement over the past year. It's really been
unprecedented in the numbers. So we're both managing that
backlog as well as a lot of the incoming.
I will tell you that we've implemented a number of business
improvement processes. We have upped production by 20 percent.
We've brought the backlog down by 15 percent. Certainly, we can
do more. As well, a big part of this is this particular side of
OPM, as you know, we faced a potential merger. In the last
Administration, we were underfunded. We don't have the staff in
order to manage now a surge in retirement. We appreciate the
budgets that we've received over the past couple of years and
will look to work with all of you to ensure that we have the
staffing.
I will mention also, like Mr. Miller, is that we're working
to a process of technological improvements around
modernization. We have a new call center that's cloud-based
that now we no longer have dropped calls. We have--people get
callbacks as well as wanting to bring on the online retirement
application.
Mr. Keller. OK. I will just mention, you know, somebody
that's in need of those benefits, really, they want to have an
answer. And I just wonder when I can expect to have the
response from the OPM--can I expect that in the near future.
Mr. Connolly. The gentleman's time has expired. But let me,
on his behalf, request, Director Ahuja, we'd like a more
detailed response, I think, to the whole issue of backlog,
because it's more than one agency and, obviously, our
constituents are affected. So I'd ask you, for the record, to
submit a more detailed analysis of what is the problem and what
are we doing about it and what's the timeline.
Ms. Ahuja. Absolutely.
Mr. Connolly. I thank you.
Ms. Ahuja. And I would like to mention, Chairman, that we
do provide regular briefings to your staff, and we can continue
to do that as well.
Mr. Connolly. Great. Thank you so much.
The gentleman from Illinois, Mr. Davis, is recognized for
his questioning.
Mr. Davis. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I also want to
thank our witnesses for being here and for their informative
information.
In June 2021, President Biden signed an executive order to
strengthen the Federal workforce by promoting diversity,
equity, inclusion, and accessibility. The Biden
Administration's vision is to, quote, attract and hire the most
qualified employees who reflect the diversity of our country in
the right roles across the Federal Government, end of the
quote.
Further, the President's Management Agenda outlines three
core priorities of this Administration: strengthening and
empowering the Federal workforce; delivering excellent,
equitable, and secure Federal services and customer experience;
managing the business of government.
Mr. Miller, how does a more diverse, equitable, inclusive,
and accessible Federal workforce deliver a better customer
experience from Federal services?
Mr. Miller. Congressman, thank you for that question.
Absolutely, part of this approach with regards to DEIA in the
workforce is about the output that agencies deliver. DEIA both
helps us attract the full pool of talent, it helps individuals
perform at their best on the job, and it ensures that we have
the diversity of the public that we serve, so that our
agencies, our operating units can put themselves in the shoes
of the customers who are receiving their services and come up
with new and innovative ways for how to improve them going
forward.
Mr. Davis. Thank you very much.
Ms. Ahuja, how do paid internships and fellowships promote
diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the
workforce?
Ms. Ahuja. Thank you, Congressman Davis, for that question
and for your commitment to these issues.
So I've talked a lot about how diversity really--in drawing
from that diversity makes the Federal Government a much more
effective employer, drawing from the vast talent that we have
across this country. I will say in particular, we have been
talking a bit during this hearing, I know the chairman is very
concerned and focused on early career talent. Paid internships
are critical to that piece of ensuring diversity.
Listen, not everyone can afford an unpaid internship in
Washington, DC, nor should that be the norm. We really should
be providing compensation for those early in their careers. I
would like to point out, Congressman, that we issued direct
hiring authority focused on post-secondary students who can
actually get a good-paying job while they're in school so they
can pay for those fees and also build a level of experience.
A big part of also the paid internship--our paid internship
focus is also ensuring a focus on skills-based hiring. So
certainly this is not just about those who are coming, you
know, through schools, colleges, but those who are getting
their experience elsewhere that we're really going to benefit
and expand the talent pool in so many different ways.
And as you know, the DEIA executive order talks about
diversity in very broad ways. We're not just talking--we're
talking about communities of color, but we're talking about
individuals with disabilities. We're talking about veterans,
military spouses, those with economic challenges, whether in
the rural or urban areas. So we really are going to benefit
from a broad swap of this country, not only in--not only
focused on internships and early career talent but across the
Federal Government workforce.
Mr. Davis. Let me thank you both for your responses. And I
also want to take a moment to mention that July is Pride and
Disability Month and commend the Biden Administration for
making it a large priority to attract individuals to Federal
service who otherwise may not have been able to serve. So I
thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I yield back the balance of my
time.
Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Mr. Davis.
The gentleman from Georgia, Mr. Clyde, is recognized for
his questions.
Mr. Clyde. Thank you, Chairman Connolly and Ranking Member
Hice.
We are here today to talk about a very important matter,
the future of the Federal workforce. I'm grateful that we're
having this hearing, because this issue is a tremendous
problem.
You know, as a small-business owner myself, I understand
that a company is only as good as its workers. That's truly
what make up, you know, what you do and how well you do it.
It's the people that you employ and how you hold those people
accountable for the job that they actually do.
So, you know, when people do not work in person, then it
becomes very problematic for what they're able to accomplish.
So I think people need to get back to work.
I know my Democrat colleagues don't necessarily understand
these concepts, since many of them are still routinely proxy-
voting and tuning into these committee hearings via video
conference. And as Mr. Keller mentioned, we had a huge issue
with that yesterday.
It's long past time that people return to work in person.
It's unacceptable that many Federal employees are teleworking
more than 2-1/2 years since the start of COVID-19. You know,
even if folks in Washington don't want to recognize it, the
rest of the United States has moved on and has returned to work
in person.
So I think it's imperative that Federal workers return to
work in person, because people are being hurt by the
continuation of this telework. Since the start of COVID-19, for
example, our veterans, of which I am one, have suffered greatly
by experiencing delays in accessing and receiving their records
from the NPRC, which has been doing an abysmal job and has a
tremendous backlog.
So this leads to my question. Earlier this summer, it was
reported that 25 percent of Federal bureaucrats at the
Department of Health and Human Services--this is the Department
of Health and Human Services now--failed to log in to their
office suites that included their work email during the first
10 months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
And this particular article--and, Mr. Chairman, I would
like unanimous consent to submit this for the record.
Mr. Connolly. Without objection.
Mr. Clyde. All right. It's called ``Quarter of Federal
Health Workers Failed to Check Email Amid Pandemic.'' It's an
article from the Free Beacon of June 17, 2022.
Mr. Clyde. Now, mind you, HHS, they employ 80,000 workers,
so that's 20,000 employees. And they have a requested mandatory
budget of $1.7 trillion and $127 billion in discretionary
spending. That's huge.
And 25 percent of them for 10 months don't know how to
check their email or are unable to or simply don't? How in the
world do you do your work? I mean, if we didn't have email, I
simply couldn't do my work. How can they do theirs?
So I want to know, do you find this acceptable, Ms. Ahuja?
Ms. Ahuja. Thank you, Congressman Clyde, for that question.
And I know we were speaking about that earlier, about this
particular issue, and we're certainly going to look into it, as
Chairman Connolly had mentioned and asked us to.
I will say that we've talked also a lot about the fact that
during the pandemic more than 50 percent of the workforce
continued to show up every day.
As you know, this is--embracing workplace flexibilities is
happening in the private sector as well. They are restructuring
their jobs for telework----
Mr. Clyde. OK. I just asked the question; do you find that
acceptable? ``Yes'' or ``no'' would suffice.
Ms. Ahuja. Well, again, we--the workforce has been
resilient, and they have showed up, and we have embraced----
Mr. Clyde. Just answer the question, ma'am. That's all I
want you to do.
Ms. Ahuja. We have embraced the telework and remote-work
arrangements in a way that I think will utilize and maximize--
--
Mr. Clyde. Ma'am, do you find that 25 percent didn't even
check their emails for 10 months, is that acceptable or is that
not?
Ms. Ahuja. Thank you, Congressman Clyde, for that question.
As we had discussed earlier----
Mr. Clyde. I've asked it three times now.
Ms. Ahuja [continuing]. We are looking into it, and if that
is the case, that would not be acceptable, no.
Mr. Clyde. OK. Thank you. That's exactly what I want. So
that is not acceptable. All right.
Because what I want to know is, what is the Biden
Administration's top priority here? Is it giving timely, high-
level customer service to the American people?
I mean, you just told my colleague Mr. Keller that OPM is
committed to the best customer service. Is that right?
Ms. Ahuja. I did.
Mr. Clyde. OK. All right. So is that the Biden
Administration's top priority? Or is it, as his executive order
put out, diversity and inclusion? I mean, what is it? What's
the top priority?
Ms. Ahuja. Thank you, Congressman Clyde, for the question.
I think we have multiple priorities that we're focused on--
--
Mr. Clyde. Well, what's the top priority? That's what I
want to know. What's the top priority?
Ms. Ahuja. We're focused on ensuring that we have a
workforce that can deliver on customer service and mission to
the American public.
We're focused on ensuring that our workforce engage, that
they feel that there's an inclusive work environment so they
can excel.
We are focused on the fact that we have to be a part of
this future of work. It is also----
Mr. Clyde. OK. Thank you.
Ms. Ahuja [continuing]. Being----
Mr. Clyde. I have one more quick question before my time--
--
Mr. Connolly. No. No. The gentleman's time has expired.
The----
Mr. Clyde. OK.
Mr. Connolly [continuing]. Gentlemen's time has expired.
Mr. Clyde. Thank you.
Mr. Hice. Mr. Chairman?
Mr. Connolly. Just one second.
Mr. Sarbanes, you are next, but if you'll just suspend for
one second.
The chair recognizes the ranking member for a
clarification.
Mr. Hice. Thank you.
Yes, just a point of clarification, Director Ahuja. You
mentioned a while ago about briefings that you were providing
regarding the backlog, to the staff.
Ms. Ahuja. Yes, sir.
Mr. Hice. I've been informed, our staff has not received
any briefings. Can you clarify what briefings you're talking
about and where are they, why we don't have them?
Ms. Ahuja. It's for the Appropriations Committee, I
apologize, not specifically for this committee. But we've been
providing briefings for the Appropriations Committee, I
believe, on a regular basis.
Mr. Hice. All right. But not to this committee?
Ms. Ahuja. No, sir.
Mr. Hice. With this committee being Oversight, could you
provide that to this committee----
Ms. Ahuja. Absolutely.
Mr. Hice [continuing]. As well?
Ms. Ahuja. Absolutely.
Mr. Connolly. Yes, we get a little touchy, as authorizers,
when someone invokes Appropriations.
Ms. Ahuja. Yes, I stand corrected. It was for
Appropriations.
Mr. Hice. Well, Oversight needs it. That is our role. Thank
you.
Ms. Ahuja. Yes.
Mr. Hice. And thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Connolly. I thank the ranking member for the
clarification. Appreciate it.
Mr. Sarbanes, you are recognized for your line of
questioning.
Mr. Sarbanes. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Director Ahuja and Deputy Director Miller, thank you for
your testimony today.
I want to first thank Chairman Connolly for his work on all
of these various issues but certainly his commitment to
telework. And I was proud to join him recently in introducing
legislation that will further enhance our ability to gather
data and refine how telework is distributed across our Federal
agencies.
We've already had some conversation about the benefits of
telework in the hearing today. Obviously, it's a morale
booster. It helps with continuity of operations. It helps with
productivity within the agencies.
Interestingly, as Chairman Connolly knows and I'm sure our
witnesses know, in agencies that take full advantage of
telework, we see not only productivity go up among those who
are using that resource, but it goes up across the entire
agency, because I think it allows them more focus on metrics
and performance and other things that can help with the
efficiency and effectiveness of these agencies.
I wanted to turn, though, to the recruitment dimension of
telework. And maybe each of you could speak for a moment to
exactly what that looks like.
How is the availability of telework within Federal agencies
being presented to that potential workforce out there? How are
you using it in your recruitment efforts? Take me through what
that process looks like.
And what's the data showing you on how important the
telework opportunity is for Federal workers in that recruitment
effort?
And why don't we start with Director Ahuja, and then we can
go to Deputy Director Miller. Thank you.
Ms. Ahuja. Thank you, Congressman. And I think you laid out
very eloquently the importance of these workplace flexibilities
when it comes to productivity, operational ability within an
organization.
I think what we're seeing, both in the individuals that we
have in the workforce around retention, defining the job based
on the set of responsibilities and whether there can be
flexibility, both in person and working from home, I think
we've learned that employees really do want to be able to have
the flexibility to manage their personal responsibilities.
In the context of recruitment, absolutely, what we are
seeing is agency-hopping based on where, you know, employees
see levels of flexibility. We don't want agencies having to
compete with each other, you know, for different, you know,
employees within the Federal Government.
We're also seeing that this is the wave of the future in
the private sector. The private sector is defining these
positions based on if they can provide more workplace
flexibility. They're training their supervisors; they're
upgrading their IT. They're working on all these dimensions
that we want to be doing in the Federal Government so we can
compete for talent.
I think one thing I should mention around recruitment is,
we've now expanded the talent pool. You know, more than 80
percent of Federal jobs are outside of Washington, DC. We have
ability to recruit in literally every county, every part of
this country, in ways that we weren't able to do so before.
Mr. Sarbanes. Mr. Miller, I'd love to get your perspective.
Mr. Miller. Great. Congressman, thank you for your
attention to this issue.
The only one item that I would add to Director Ahuja's
statement on this topic is that this is a tool that is
particularly useful for jobs that are of critical skills.
Cybersecurity, IT, data analytics--some of those areas where
some of this work can be performed in a telework setting is
absolutely critical.
It's an area that we have a gap today. Being consistent
with those sectors, with those workers across the country,
including in the private sector, that's a major tool for us to
make sure that we're filling that gap and addressing it going
forward. And it's an expectation, particularly those in early
career.
Mr. Sarbanes. Thanks very much.
I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Connolly. I thank the gentleman.
And the gentleman from Arizona, Mr. Biggs, is recognized
for his round of questions.
Mr. Biggs. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this
hearing.
Director Ahuja and Deputy Director Miller, thank you for
being here today.
Mr. Miller, on your biography, it says you used to work for
the Boston Consulting Group. BCG works with the Partnership for
Public Service to survey, assess, and rank Federal agencies and
their employees to identify the best places to work in the
Federal Government.
Are you familiar with that report?
Mr. Miller. I am, yes.
Mr. Biggs. Yes. And an agency's score is calculated using a
proprietary and weighted formula looking at responses to three
different questions. The questions are: I recommend my
organization as a good place to work. Considering everything,
how satisfied are you with your job? And considering
everything, how satisfied are you with your organization? And
the more that that question predicts intent to remain with the
agency, the higher it is weighted in the score.
Now, the 2021 report was released in the past few weeks.
Have you had a chance to look at that, Deputy Director Miller?
Mr. Miller. I have. And I was at the event where it was
released.
Mr. Biggs. OK. So you're all in on it.
So I found the data startling, myself. The report indicates
that employee engagement and satisfaction dropped by 4.5 points
from 2020 to 2021. Among large agencies, 16 of 17 dropped;
midsize agencies, it fell from 12 to--12 of 25 agencies; and
among small agencies, 17 of 29. I find that startling.
In your written testimony, Deputy Director, you indicate
that, quote, ``for the first time in the history of the
President's management agenda, we place strengthening and
empowering the Federal workforce as the first priority.''
So some of these guys are asking about priorities. That,
apparently, is the first priority of the PMA. The second PMA
priority focuses on delivering excellent, equitable, and secure
Federal service and customer experience.
I am going to correlate the change in the focus on the
priority with the decline in worker satisfaction in the
weighted survey that I was just referring to.
And the reason I do that is that my experience and past
workplace studies over decades have typically indicated that
satisfaction in employment is directly correlated to meaningful
work. And providing service, topflight service, is considered
by many in the private-sector employment field to be meaningful
work.
And it seems to me that the PMA gets this absolutely bass-
ackwards by saying, we're going to go ahead and focus on happy
employees, if you will, but, at the same time, our second
priority is going to be service to our customers.
I mean, I'm going to give you a chance to respond to that,
because I think it's only fair to let you respond. But that's
the problem with the PMA, the way I view it. But I'll give you
just a few seconds to respond, because that's all I've got.
Mr. Miller. Thanks, Congressman.
I think we should be concerned about employee engagement
levels, because, today, Federal employee engagement levels are
lower than they are in the private sector on average. I think
that's a problem. I think we should aspire to do better. The
last two years have been the highest level of employee
engagement for a long time, but we're far from where we need to
be.
We do have some agencies--large, medium, and small--that
are outperforming the private sector, but, on average, we're
underperforming.
Mr. Biggs. Yes.
Mr. Miller. It absolutely is an issue. The reason----
Mr. Biggs. OK. So I'm out of time. I mean, we might want to
extend it sometime when we get more than just 2 or 3 minutes to
deal with it. But I would like to hear more of what you have to
say on that, because I don't think it's fair to just cut you
off, but it's where I've got to go.
Are any Federal workers with a D.C. duty station--this is
for you, Director Ahuja--still receiving D.C. cost-of-living
increases even if they've relocated to areas with lower cost of
living?
Ms. Ahuja. Thank you, Congressman, for the question.
So, if an employee moves out of a particular area or
adjusts and actually takes on a remote-work arrangement, then
their duty location changes, according to our guidance, and
they take on----
Mr. Biggs. So I guess----
Ms. Ahuja. They take on the locality pay of that particular
area that they're----
Mr. Biggs. So you're telling us, then--I'm going to
extrapolate from that, you're saying that, no, nobody with a
D.C. duty station who's relocated to an area outside of a D.C.
duty station is receiving D.C. duty cost of living?
Ms. Ahuja. I was talking generally what happens when----
Mr. Biggs. I'm not talking generally. I'm talking
specifically.
That's the problem with your answers today. They've been
generic, 30,000-foot. When people have asked you specific
questions, I get an ethereal answer. I have a specific
question. It's a ``yes'' or ``no'' answer. Generically, I would
say, ``OK, well, she must mean no,'' but I don't know what the
answer to the question is, because you didn't answer it.
Ms. Ahuja. Well, I apologize if that came across. You know,
I was just trying to give the general sense of how----
Mr. Biggs. I have the general sense.
Ms. Ahuja. OK.
Mr. Biggs. I'm not an idiot. We do this for a living. I
want to know about the D.C. workstation stuff.
Mr. Connolly. The gentleman's time has expired, but the
Director is allowed to respond briefly.
Ms. Ahuja. Sure. Thank you, Chairman.
So, right now, the current policy is, if you're in a
particular area where you report two days a pay period to your
duty location, then you are paid that particular locality area.
Now, we are hoping to work with the subcommittee where we
can make changes in the case where actually that person is
still within the broader, you know, national capital region but
is living much farther beyond but is still able to report to
the duty location two days per pay period.
So that's how it stands. That's the current guidance and
law as it is. We look forward to working with you----
Mr. Biggs. So that would be a ``yes'' to the question I
asked, and reform needs to be undertaken. Is that----
Mr. Connolly. The gentleman's time has expired.
Ms. Ahuja. Uh-huh.
Mr. Biggs. Is that fair?
Mr. Connolly. I thank the gentleman.
The gentleman from Maryland, Mr. Raskin, is recognized for
his line of questioning.
Mr. Raskin. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much.
Our constituents, you know, relay on the USAJOBS website to
find out about different employment opportunities and job
openings, and that site has been plagued with a lot of
difficulties in the past.
I know some improvements have been made. But I'm wondering,
Ms. Ahuja, how OPM is working to continue to improve the
website and the Federal hiring process so our constituents
aren't so frustrated by it.
Mr. Connolly. You need to turn your mic on.
Ms. Ahuja. I think I turned it off when I meant--thank you,
Congressman, for that question.
There's been a lot of effort focused on the USAJOBS
website. We know it's an important portal that hundreds of
applicants go to.
It's really a two-part process. We're improving the
platform both in creating career paths on the job site, doing
better tagging of the jobs so that if you're looking for cyber
positions you can find those readily, easily. We're also
working more closely with the agencies around being more
responsive to applicants.
So there's the side where you have the agencies and how
they're interfacing with the job website and ensuring--you
know, one of the complaints we, you know, receive often is
applicants being able to get some feedback on where their
application is. So, really, that is in the training and
encouraging agencies to do that. On the flip side, it's also
making the job site much more user-friendly.
We've been doing a lot of training and outreach and
webinars with prospective applicants, as well, in order to get
them more comfortable with the website.
I should mention that, most recently, we've also created an
ability for agencies to tag their positions as remote
positions. We see this as a great opportunity, again, to expand
the applicant pool, to give agencies a much, kind of, broader
breadth in who they're bringing in to the Federal Government.
Mr. Raskin. I appreciate that.
A couple of--several constituents, actually, have talked to
me about the problem of age discrimination. And there's a
recent study that showed that 78 percent of older workers
experience age discrimination.
I know that older workers are not leaving their age on the
USAJOBS website, but, you know, there's still the opportunity
to determine their age or roughly what their age is. What steps
are you taking to protect older workers from age discrimination
in the job-application process?
Ms. Ahuja. Congressman, I appreciate that question.
You know, like you said, we do encourage applicants, again,
you know, not listing years of when they graduated, that there
is--again, really looking at the set of skills and experience
that an applicant has.
You know, as a part of our diversity and equity inclusion
and accessibility executive order we have, really, every agency
has created their strategic plan to focus on ensuring that they
have a fair and equitable way in how they do recruitment and
also how they do retention around promotions and development.
And then, finally, I'd like to say, you know, we have a
workforce that, you know, skews in the 40's and 50's, and, you
know, we do tend to draw in individuals with much more
experience who are later in their careers. And Chairman
Connolly showed that in his earlier example during his
statement. So we do pride ourselves in trying to bring in, you
know, a vast diversity of individuals no matter, kind of, their
experience or age or their background.
Mr. Raskin. Thank you.
There are critical skills gaps in a bunch of different
Federal positions, like cybersecurity, human resources, and so
on.
Mr. Miller, what do you see as the primary skills gaps
taking place across the government? And what happens if we're
not able to fill those?
Mr. Miller. Congressman, thank you for the question. Thank
you for your attention to your constituents, because I am one
of them.
I want to--on this, this is something I am very focused on.
We held a convening--the Administration held a convening
earlier this week on cyber jobs. This is a challenge across the
economy writ large, noting that there's over 700,000 cyber job
openings.
This is an area that the Federal Government needs more
talent in-house, needs more capability in-house, given the
transformation that is underway. OMB released a zero-trust
strategy that our agencies are implementing over time. We need
the people to be able to do that. Cyber and tech are front and
center, and that's an area that we're particularly focused on.
Mr. Raskin. Thank you very much.
I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Connolly. I thank the gentleman.
The chair recognizes himself for his questioning.
Ms. Ahuja, I've talked a lot, and you and I've talked
privately as well, about using internships as a way to recruit
talent and hopefully retain it. And I've shared with you my
chagrin at the complete lack of uniformity, any kind of
systematic approach.
In fact, in some Federal agencies, it would be better to
abolish any internships than continue them, because we have
people saying, after they complete an internship, ``I'd rather
put my head through a pencil sharpener than ever work for the
Federal Government.'' That's how successful internships are.
And when we contrast it with the private sector, as you
know, Mr. Miller, it is unbelievably different. I know one firm
where, if you--it's a competitive process. It's a prestige
thing to do on a college campus. If you are lucky enough to be
selected through a rigorous process to be an intern, the
chances of a job offer are in the 80th percentile. We're in the
single percentile, I think, in the Federal Government.
Ms. Ahuja, just for the record, can OPM tell us the exact
number of Federal interns across the Federal Government?
Ms. Ahuja. So we're only able to determine with the
authorities that we have--so the Pathways and the direct hire
authorities--but we're not able to do that across----
Mr. Connolly. So there's no central data base to know how
many interns are there?
Ms. Ahuja. No, there isn't.
Mr. Connolly. Huh.
Second, can OPM determine how many interns are paid or
unpaid in the Federal Government?
Ms. Ahuja. With the various programs that exist across the
agencies, we're not able to do that, Chairman.
Mr. Connolly. So we don't know how many, we don't know
whether they're paid or they're unpaid, and we don't know the
mix.
At this time, can OPM determine how many Federal
internships are converted into permanent Federal employment?
Ms. Ahuja. And this is also a particular concern for me,
because I think the conversion piece is important. And we're
able to do that for Pathways and some of the specific
authorities, but not across----
Mr. Connolly. Right.
Ms. Ahuja [continuing]. The board, no.
Mr. Connolly. This is unbelievable.
So, Mr. Miller, I like looking at problems that maybe lend
themselves to straightforward fixes. Not everything does, but
some things do, and it's a start. This one seems, to me, a very
fixable problem.
But it requires political will to systematize in order to
utilize internships as a tool, a portal, for recruitment into
the Federal Government and hopefully retention. But it's got to
be a program that I leave feeling it was meaningful, it really
gave me an orientation, there's a desire for public service
after this exposure because I'm motivated. Apparently, we're
not doing any of that.
And Director Ahuja's Office of Personnel Management, which
is kind of the HR, you know, focus of the Federal Government,
doesn't have the legal authority or the tools to even collect
the data that would help us decide what's the problem and how
do we fix it.
Would you comment?
Mr. Miller. Thank you, Chairman.
And, yes, internships are a key tool for most private-
sector organizations, most large private-sector organizations,
as early career talent. In one of my previous stints in the
private sector, the vast majority of our early career talent
came through an internship program.
In the Federal Government, it doesn't work that way. It is,
most interns do not convert into career hires. That's something
that we have talked about at the PMC level. It's a huge
problem.
We've made this a focus, including by increasing paid
internships because it gives us a mechanism for agencies to
both have measurement and accountability. By paying for
interns, it also increases the incentive structure in an agency
to have a good experience so they're getting a return on
investment, including by converting to early career talent.
One additional thing I would note, because it is an area of
focus for both Director Ahuja and I, is improving the personnel
vetting system. Internships are a way to improve the personnel
vetting system by getting people earlier in their career, in an
internship, into the national security clearance process.
Mr. Connolly. So what do you think we should do about it? I
mean, everything you said is good, but, given Director Ahuja's
answers to my three questions about this data, it sounds like
everything we're doing is anecdotal, so, ``We think this would
happen,'' ``We're pretty confident that if we paid this
happens.''
Mr. Miller. Yes.
Mr. Connolly. But there's no rhyme nor reason across the
Federal Government to internship policies, let alone having
some kind of central data bank that allows us rationally to
make informed decisions about that program and how best to
utilize it.
Mr. Miller. Absolutely. Improving our H.R. data is
something that we need to do writ large. And internships are
one example of the problem that we have on centralized H.R.
data.
Mr. Connolly. My time has expired, but let me just tell
both of you, I'm a dog on a bone on this subject. I've been
working on it for 14 years, and I'm hoping this time's the
magic. But I hope I can recruit both of you to cooperate with
us to try to really at least fix this part that helps your job
of recruitment and retention a little easier.
I thank you both.
I see Mr. Lynch has joined us. The gentleman from
Massachusetts is recognized for his line of questioning.
And before I call on you, Mr. Lynch, if you would just
indulge us, I would ask unanimous consent that the gentleman
from Virginia, Mr. Beyer, be waived on to the subcommittee for
the purpose of questioning our witnesses.
Without objection, it is so ordered. Thank you.
Mr. Lynch.
Mr. Lynch. All right. Good morning, and thank you, Mr.
Chairman. I appreciate you putting this together.
Mr. Miller and Ms. Ahuja, I know that in certain sectors
we've had substantial increases in wages. And I will give you a
good example. In the healthcare industry, especially direct
care within institutions in the eastern part of the United
States, we have seen 10-to 15-percent increases over the last
two years since 2020 in hospitals among, you know, nurses and
staff and therapists and doctors.
I have three VA hospitals in my district, and I know that
those individuals are some of our highest performers. And
especially during this pandemic, they have been absolutely
heroic in the work that they have done in our VA facilities.
Their outcomes have been substantially better, I think, in some
cases, then private institutions performing similar services.
And I just want to ask you about our ability to retain. And
we are in a competitive relationship with the private sector
here when we try to hire individuals to come onto the Federal
payroll. I want to talk about some of our top performers, our
best performers, and what motivates them to stay on the public
payroll, working for the Federal Government, serving our
veterans in this case, rather than going for higher wages in
the private sector.
Could you speak to that a little bit, Mr. Miller or Ms.
Ahuja?
Mr. Miller. I think one of the things that distinguishes
our public servants, irrespective of their role, including
those who are top performers or bringing specific technical
skills, is the ability for impact. It's the public service that
they're doing each and every day that is what motivates them.
But, at the same time, we do need to be competitive. It's
not just about one individual, but if we look at things like
healthcare workers or cyber and tech or other areas, we do need
enough flexibility to be competitive.
And we also need to do it in a way that's consistent across
the Federal Government. When we have different authorities and
different approaches to similar types of jobs and similar types
of skills in one agency over another, it creates an imbalance
that harms the Federal Government overall and makes us less
competitive in the labor market.
Ms. Ahuja. And, Congressman, I'd like to add that, in
particular, you know, we have a couple of proposals that we'd
love to work with this committee on around increasing
competitive pay for some of these highly skilled experts.
And, also, particularly in the cyber and IT fields, we
really do suffer in this area around competition, and we've
created competition within and among our agencies. This
Congress passed a particular cyber talent program for DHS that
has now become, sort of, you know, kind of the king of programs
within the Federal Government, and other agencies are having to
compete with that.
I will mention that VA just recently passed a bill--or a
bill was passed to support some of the VA efforts related to
the toxins with burn pits, and they had a number of proposals
focused on recruitment and retention and pay that they needed
in order to bring doctors and other healthcare personnel into
their facilities.
Mr. Lynch. Well, thank you very much. I'd be happy, and I'm
sure the chairman will be happy, to work with you, and the
members of this committee, on those incentives in highly
competitive areas.
I would like to ask you about cyber and--well,
cybersecurity, principally. How are we doing--in the private
sector, this area is rich in opportunity. And we seem to be
falling farther behind in our efforts to protect the Federal
cyber system.
So where are we now? I know we've had some hellacious
breaches. I know OPM, there was a major hack a few years ago.
We're dealing still with a couple of vulnerabilities, some
zero-day breaches.
Where are we in terms of trying to attract personnel that
could help us in that area?
Mr. Connolly. In 20 seconds.
Mr. Miller. So this is a place that is a challenge for the
Federal Government; it's a challenge for a lot of employers.
There's a shortage across the country.
We're very focused on it. Cyber is an opportunity. We've
put a lot of effort in with this release of the zero-trust
strategy. It gives us a roadmap. It's been lauded by the
private sector.
And giving people the opportunity, whether it's on a
permanent basis or on a tour-of-duty opportunity, is a huge,
huge place for us to go. But it's going to be a lot of people
that we need to bring in.
Mr. Connolly. You sound like the King of Siam Mr. Miller
Mr. Lynch. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Mr. Lynch.
Everything he said was--frankly, it's a puzzlement. It's a
challenge.
And, by the way, we were talking about internships and how
successful they can be. You can see, we have succeeded in
recruiting the youngest generation.
Camry, welcome to the government Operations Subcommittee.
You're a welcome addition.
The gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Beyer, is recognized for
his line of questioning.
Mr. Beyer. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. And thank you
for allowing me to waive on to the hearing. It's an honor to be
a temporary waived-on member of the Oversight Committee.
Chairman Connolly, historically, the government has served
as a model employer in terms of benefits to employees----
Mr. Connolly. What happened?
Mr. Beyer. I keep getting video turned off, but I will try
to turn it on again as I failed to start.
Mr. Connolly. Well, could you repeat the question?
Mr. Beyer. Yes, please.
To Ms. Ahuja, how does a lack of paid leave create a burden
on Federal employees who have a serious illness, seriously ill
family members, or a deployed family member?
Ms. Ahuja. Thank you, Congressman. And just so I
understand, you were saying the lack of paid leave and how that
impacts an employee?
Mr. Beyer. Exactly, yes. Thank you.
Ms. Ahuja. No, I appreciate that question and your concern
about having the support systems for employees. And I think,
certainly, we've seen that during the height of the pandemic,
where we were able to institute some of those flexibilities to
manage illness, to manage exposure.
We have benefited greatly from the paid parental leave, the
paid parental leave that Chairwoman Maloney was a real champion
for. And that has been a real incentive. Our recent Federal
health benefits survey showed that women, females 40 and under
see it as a major reason why they stay in the Federal
Government.
I would say, for the same reason, there's a real interest
in providing broader paid leave. We have the FMLA. We know
oftentimes that our employees deal with major illnesses. They
certainly can utilize FMLA. They can utilize voluntary leave
banks, and I know that's an effort that exists in a lot of
agencies.
But, certainly, we're looking, as we've talked earlier,
about mental health, about morale, about creating a workforce
that is a model employer, that's providing a range of benefits
that I think will be a part of the attraction to the Federal
Government.
Mr. Beyer. Thank you very much.
Ms. Ahuja, when looking at the future of Federal work, how
would providing comprehensive paid family medical leave make
the government benefits comparable to those offered by the
large private-sector corporations, the ones who are competing
with us for that talent?
Ms. Ahuja. And just so I understand, Congressman, you're
talking about comprehensive paid parental leave or just paid
leave?
Mr. Beyer. Comprehensive paid Federal leave. How would that
affect our ability to compete for the talent?
Ms. Ahuja. Well, right now, yes, you know, we have paid,
you know, maternity/paternity leave, which has been a huge
incentive. I think it allows us to be competitive. You know, we
talk about every Federal job being a good-paying job, and a
part of that is having a comprehensive set of benefits.
I will tell you, also, in our surveys, that our retirement
program, TSP, the annuity that Federal employees get, is a
major reason why we have such high retention in the Federal
Government.
So I would agree that providing, you know, broader support
around leave would only, you know, further add to the
commitment that we have from Federal employees.
Mr. Beyer. Thank you.
And one more question. When the President took office, one
of his first acts was to sign Executive Order 14003. That
reversed several of the policies that took time away from union
access to facilities. This executive order allowed unions to
better negotiate with management, took away the disaster
Schedule F proposal.
Can you walk us through the executive orders? And why do
you think President Biden prioritized these?
Ms. Ahuja. Is this to me, Congressman? OK. Yes, of course.
Well, you know, let me first say that I share the
President's commitment to a strong partnership with our union
partners. They are the voice of employees on the front lines.
They provide, you know, broad perspective around ideas around
efficiency and how we can be a more effective government. I
have certainly see that firsthand.
You know, the President in his first week made it very
clear that, you know, we were going to reset the relationships
with our union partners, and OPM takes a lot of pride in really
being out there, front and center, in supporting agencies and
rebuilding those relationships. We serve as a point of
escalation. You know, there's 2,000 bargaining units across the
Federal Government, and we are certainly working hard to reset
those relationships and get on better footing.
I should also say that, you know, we're a part of the Task
Force on Worker Empowerment and Organizing, and really trying
to set the tone for positive, you know, engagement with unions,
how we can ensure that we really are creating a workspace where
workers can organize.
Mr. Connolly. I thank the gentleman. His time has expired.
Mr. Beyer. Thank you very much.
Mr. Connolly. Thank you for joining us today, Mr. Beyer.
And let me just say, we just learned that the President of
the United States has been diagnosed with COVID-19,
underscoring the fact that this pandemic is not over and
underscoring the fact that even the highest Federal employee is
vulnerable to this virus.
We wish the President well and hope he has a speedy
recovery.
Let me just say in closing, I want to thank my friends on
this side of the aisle for their cooperative spirit in trying
to make sure we get this hearing concluded before votes are
called, and we've done that.
I also want to say, I want to thank our two witnesses for
their commitment to the Federal workforce and the Federal
employees, individually and collectively.
We've hopefully learned a lot from the pandemic, and
there's more we've got to learn from. There are going to be
changes in the Federal workforce as we go forward, some of them
pandemic-driven or--accelerated, some of them not related to
the pandemic but just demographics. We've got to recruit and
retain the workforce of the future. And we're looking at not a
small number of people, as Director Ahuja indicates; we're
talking hundreds of thousands of people.
I do believe that, as I said earlier, there are some
things, though, that lend themselves to fairly straightforward
fixes if we put our mind to it. They're management issues.
They're not rocket science.
And I believe trying to make a viable internship program
that's a stellar program, like the private sector often has, is
one step in the recruitment and retention challenge we can fix
if we have the political will to do it, if we care enough to
make that a priority. It is a priority for me, and I hope it
will be for both of you. And we look forward to working with
you.
We've also had requests for information we want to make
sure we followup on. The story in the Free Beacon on not
checking emails, we've got to track that down and make sure--
hopefully, that's not true, but if it is, what corrective
measures we're going to take. And then we're also going to look
at briefings that the Appropriations Committee apparently got.
But we very much look forward to working with you. You
know, during this pandemic, there are heroic figures in the
Federal Government--Federal employees who put themselves at
risk to try to make sure the American people are served with
vital services every day. And we know that, and we appreciate
that. And we want to make sure, as we move forward, that they
continue to be protected and honored for their service.
Thank you. This hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 10:41 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
[all]