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.