The OPM study comes a year after MSPB raised concerns that the rates of hiring under other than competitive examination raise questions about whether agencies are complying with the merit principle of fair and open competition for jobs.
In a January 2015 report, MSPB said that competitive examination “is the only hiring authority that is open to all qualified U.S. citizens. As a result, as more restrictive authorities are used to hire federal employees, the less fair and open the system may appear to be.” It repeated that concern in a later publication.
The most commonly used alternatives included several special hiring authorities for veterans, direct hire, and student hiring authorities. The MSPB has noted that about four-fifths of those hired under the authorities for veterans are male, resulting in a decline of the percentage of women among new hires and thus in the overall workforce, eroding gender diversity in the federal workplace.
“Agencies must balance the competing public policy goals of fairness and openness in hiring, granting preference to veterans, and recruiting a workforce that is representative of all segments of society within their hiring strategies,” it said in last year’s report.
“Agencies also have the obligation to ensure that their workforce remains representative of society, which may not be possible if the applicant pool is routinely limited. There also is a strong business case for fair and open competition in hiring. The more agencies practice strong, fair, and open competition, the more engaged their workforce,” it said.
