Lawmakers, Administration Officials Clash Over Federal Workforce Flexibility
Last month, Biden Administration officials testified before the House Oversight Committee’s Subcommittee on Government Operations on plans for the future of the federal workforce. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Kiran Ahuja and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Deputy Director for Management Jason Miller discussed workplace flexibilities and agency efficiency.
In her remarks, Director Ahuja emphasized the importance of flexibility in working arrangements for employee engagement and recruitment of new employees, calling telework and remote work a key component of revitalizing the federal workforce.
“One lesson we have learned throughout the pandemic is that workplace flexibilities can promote resilience of federal government operations in the face of disruptions, enhance productivity, and improve employee morale,” she noted. “During this time, we have seen the private-sector labor market—and what workers expect from their jobs—change quickly. Private-sector employers have had to quickly learn how to respond to employee needs. Federal employers must do the same to attract and retain talent in this tight labor market.”
Continuing on the theme of flexibility, Director Ahuja noted that it is becoming increasingly commonplace in the private sector and the government must follow suit if it wishes to compete to recruit and retain employees. There is already competition among government agencies as employees jump between agencies based on their level of telework and workplace flexibility, Director Ahuja said.
OMB’s Deputy Director for Management Miller expressed continued concern over obstacles to recruiting and retaining federal employees. Motivation was his main concern, highlighting obstacles such as pay disparity and confusion between authorities.
“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 in a way that's consistent across the federal government,” retorted Miller. “When we have different authorities and different approaches to similar types of jobs and similar types of skills and one agency for another, it creates an imbalance that harms the federal government overall and makes us less competitive in the labor market.”
The Subcommittee’s Ranking Member Jody Hice (R-GA) criticized the executive branch officials for failing to assess how telework impacts performance at agencies. In a question to Miller, Rep. Hice asked if the administration had conducted any studies on the impact of expanding telework on a permanent basis from pre-pandemic levels.
“Agencies are required to manage and report as part of their annual performance plans of organizational units, including those with the roughly half of federal employees who expanded the use of telework during the pandemic,” Deputy Director for Management Miller said. “Managing performance and assessing performance at the agency and operational unit level has been done. It’s also something we provided guidance on both to agencies last year and in June, to both build evidence plans and develop data around the performance of organizational units, including regarding the use of telework.”
Meanwhile, the Subcommittee’s Chairman Gerald Connolly (D-VA) focused primarily on efforts to reform the federal government's internship programs—an issue that sparked debate at a House Oversight Committee hearing in June.
“In some agencies, it would be better to abolish any internships than continue them, because we have people saying after they complete their internship, ‘I’d rather put my head through a pencil sharpener than ever work for the federal government.’ That’s how successful those internships are. And when we contrast this with the private sector, it is unbelievably different,” added Rep. Connolly.
In December, Rep. Connolly introduced the NextGen Feds Act (H.R. 6104) which advanced through the full House Oversight Committee earlier this year. The House has yet to consider the bill.
