The Partnership for Public Service responded to the Bush
administration’s recently signed biodefense directive
instructing agencies on how to defend against biological
threats, by calling for a “Manhattan Project”-style
approach that prioritizes staffing enough people, “with
the knowledge, expertise, and leadership skills needed to
anticipate, prepare for and respond to bioterror attacks,”
said PPS.
It said it was necessary to “cultivate the best minds in
science and medicine.” A 2003 PPS report stated that
biodefense agencies are stretched too thin and that crises
such as SARS limit the ability of agencies to focus on
long-term staffing needs which should be given priority in
formulating a biodefense strategy.
For example, half of the biodefense-related federal workforce
in five key agencies would be eligible for retirement in
five years — a human capital management predicament
compounded by the fact that federal pay lags behind the
private sector, PPS said.
As a partial solution the partnership suggested offering
scholarships or loan replacement assistance to students in
exchange for a commitment of service in order to attract
them to the biodefense workforce. It also proposed
developing job rotation practices among academia, the
federal agencies and private sector to build expertise and
increase collaboration.
