An inspector general report says that the DoD components were not consistent in their assessment of their cyber workforces and the department therefore may not be able to “properly target its recruitment and retention efforts.”
The Federal Cybersecurity Workforce Assessment Act required the coding of filled and vacant positions across the government based on definitions by the National Institute for Standards and Technology. But “with the exception of the Department of the Army, the DoD Components we reviewed did not always comply with work role coding requirements because the DoD Components did not have a quality assurance process that ensured compliance with the DoD coding guide,” a report said.
It added that the DoD has taken actions to meet strategic goals related to recruitment and retention programs for its civilian cyber workforce, including implementing a cyber scholarship program, an information technology exchange program, an enterprise-level aptitude test, and a cyber excepted service personnel system.
“However, until the DoD Components’ application of work role codes is complete and accurate, the DoD may not have the information needed to identify and target the recruitment and retention programs to meet its greatest cyber workforce needs,” it said.
Management agreed and said that coding meeting the standards is to be complete by the end of this year and that it is developing a dashboard to track positions and vacancies, the report said.
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