Tech to Hire: Transforming Federal HR, Beginning with Recruiting and Hiring

Technology has the potential to transform federal human resources, particularly how federal agencies recruit and hire talent. In decades to come, predictive analytics, which uses data to predict future events, could help identify agencies’ potential skill gaps years in advance. Artificial intelligence could sift through hundreds of thousands of resumes and professional networking profiles to identify people with the right skills and experiences. And blockchain, a ledger-like database that stores digital transaction information across computer networks, could speed up background checks and security clearances, and provide traceable and verifiable information on applicants’ backgrounds.

But those developments seem far off when assessing where government is today. Federal hiring processes are antiquated: It takes agencies 106 days on average to hire new employees, according to fiscal 2017 Office of Personnel Management data.