Attracting and Employing Top-Tier Civilian Technical Talent in the Department of the Air Force: A Comparison of Six Occupations with Other Federal Agencies and the Private Sector

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Keller, Kirsten M.

Contributor:

Acheson-Field, Hannah

Armour, Philip

Bharadwaj, Shreyas

Dinicola, Samantha E.

Groeber, Ginger

Kramer, Jenna W.

Myers, Diana Y.

Ross, Shirley M.

Williamson, Stephanie

Language:

English

Other Title:

Attracting and Employing Top-Tier Civilian Technical Talent in the Department of the Air Force

Place of Publication:

RAND Corporation 2023

Summary:

As demand for technical talent is expected to increase across the U.S. workforce over the next decade, the Department of the Air Force (DAF) wants to ensure that it is competitive in attracting top-tier talent (e.g., highly skilled experts and promising new graduates). The authors of this report assessed the DAF's ability to attract and employ top civilian talent in six occupational series: Computer Science, Operations Research, Electronics Engineer, Engineering Technician, Airfield Manager, and Nurse. For each occupational series, the authors highlight key recruiting and employment challenges, the use of available hiring authorities and flexibilities, and how current DAF pay compares with pay in the sister services, other federal agencies, and the private sector. They also describe findings from interviews with university career services offices and private-sector recruiting experts regarding the factors potential job candidates consider when making employment decisions, as well as findings from interviews with recruiting and hiring representatives from the sister services and other federal agencies regarding alternative employment options and practices that other federal organizations have found effective. The authors conclude by providing recommendations on actions the DAF can take to better compete for top-tier civilian technical talent.