Federal Manager's Daily Report

Managers can get direct hire authority from the Office of

Personnel Management in order to fill critical shortages,

according to an overview of staffing tools in the latest

Issues of Merit newsletter from the Merit Systems

Protection Board.


The overview listed other tools such as the Student

Educational Employment Program in which agencies may

appoint part-time or full-time students that are enrolled

in accredited institutions, and can hire them back 120

days after they have completed their degrees.


Through the Intergovernmental Personnel Act, agencies can

bring in employees from non-profit institutions for up to

four years, and OPM’s IT exchange program created under

the e-Government Act of 2002 allows for the exchange of

IT workers between the private sector and government.

Government employees can be assigned to the private sector

for up to two years and non-government workers can

volunteer in the federal government, facilitating

information sharing, said MSPB.


It also noted that through a waiver of dual pay limitations

agencies may sometimes hire federal employees who are

already full-time, to perform a second job.