The Department of the Interior continues to face challenges hiring and retaining staff with key skills needed to manage and oversee oil and gas operations on federal leases, GAO told a House natural resources panel recently in calling for continued attention to staffing challenges.
It said Interior has faced challenges hiring and retaining highly trained specialists and scientists with key skills to oversee oil and gas operations on leased federal lands and waters. Interior officials say lower salaries and a slow hiring process have created staff shortages.
Positions for petroleum engineers and geologists are had to fill and retention is a problem with employees leaving for higher paying jobs in the energy industry.
According to GAO, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement have not fully used existing authorities to supplement salaries or collect and analyze hiring data to identify the causes of delays in the hiring process.