Rapid Reinforcements: Strategies for Federal Surge Hiring

Federal agencies encounter many challenges that require rapid growth of their workforce such as national emergencies, large-scale attrition, new mission requirements or the need for emergent skills. In such instances, standard federal hiring practices are often insufficient to meet the immediate demands for additional talent. As a result, agencies may seek strategies to undertake surge hiring, the process of quickly and significantly increasing the size of the workforce.

Ordinarily, federal hiring can last more than a year for a successful candidate and on average lasts more than three months, which is more than twice the time it takes in the private sector.

A number of options exist, though, that can enable agencies to bring on large numbers of qualified staff more quickly than is typical through normal processes while remaining committed to the civil service goal of cultivating an apolitical and professional workforce. These options are not widely known and remain largely underused.