The agency, part of the Transportation Department, separated 235 more employees than it hired over the last 10 years. Image: Tada Images/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffIn the latest of a string of reports calling attention to workforce challenges at various agencies, the GAO has said the Maritime Administration has “numerous vacancies in key positions” that “have made it increasingly difficult for the staff to accomplish their mission.”
The agency, part of the Transportation Department, separated 235 more employees than it hired over the last 10 years and now has 116 vacancies out of 941 positions, a rate of 12 percent, a report said. Meanwhile, 24 percent of its employees already are eligible to retire—compared with about 15 percent government-wide—and that rate will increase in the coming years, it said.
“To address these challenges, MARAD has expanded the use of hiring flexibilities to help recruit qualified candidates, begun employee engagement efforts, and developed a recruitment and outreach plan,” the report said, but it “has not fully implemented key strategic workforce planning principles.”
Those principles include assessing competencies and skills needed for the future but that has not been done even though officials told GAO that they know they will need additional expertise in areas such as cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, it said.
It said management agreed with recommendations to assess develop a strategy to address any future skill gaps for the strategic workforce plan.
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