Category: Workforce

September 29, 2023

The Biden administration on Friday is expected to release a playbook on best practices for training workers as the low 3.8% unemployment rate and years of underinvestment have left manufacturers, construction firms and other employers with unfilled jobs. Worker shortages […]

September 28, 2023

If lawmakers fail to strike a deal on the budget and a shutdown happens, many government contractors and their employees stand to be among the hardest hit. David Berteau — president of the Professional Services Council, a trade association for […]

September 20, 2023

Up to 2.2 million civilian federal employees face the possibility of either a furlough or work without pay, as Congress has just days to reach an agreement on federal spending before a government shutdown kicks in. During a government shutdown, […]

September 13, 2023

Fraudulent unemployment insurance payouts during the pandemic amounted to $100 billion to $135 billion, according to an estimate from the Government Accountability Office included in a report released on Tuesday. The congressional watchdog produced the estimate based on sampling of […]

August 22, 2023

An IRS watchdog is calling on the agency to make better use of pay incentives already available to stay on track with plans to build up its workforce. The IRS has more than a dozen pay incentives available to recruit […]

August 15, 2023

Public education leaders and legislative Democrats held events Monday across North Carolina criticizing Republicans for their slow progress negotiating a state budget, which school administrators said has made it difficult to fill staffing vacancies. As students prepare to return to […]

August 15, 2023

New regulations that substantially expand protections against discrimination in employment, education, public accommodations and housing in Pennsylvania will take effect on Aug. 16, 2023. On December 8, 2022, the Independent Regulatory Review Commission approved regulations by a 3-2 vote that […]

August 14, 2023

Globally, there are more cyberthreats than ever and a surge in attacks on operational technology (OT), including the proliferation of new ransomware variations and the ascent of Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS). These developments have caused many firms to place a higher premium […]

August 11, 2023

The Labor Department on Friday announced that it will offer training to federal contractors on recently announced updates to regulations governing how much construction workers on federally funded projects are paid. Vice President Harris on Tuesday announced that the Labor […]

August 9, 2023

Bringing back factory jobs is one of the most popular of White House promises — regardless of who happens to be the president. Donald Trump said he’d do it with tariffs. Barack Obama said companies would start “insourcing.” George W. […]

July 27, 2023

The Transportation Security Administration this week hit a major milestone in its efforts to design a new personnel management system akin the one governing most of the federal workforce, as the agency’s 60,000 employees began receiving pay checks reflecting an […]

July 13, 2023

Retirement planning involves making some very important decisions regarding your federal pension benefit, Thrift Savings Plan investments and Social Security. This week, I’d like to focus on the last of these, because it includes a variety of benefits, each with […]

July 6, 2023

The Office of Personnel Management released guidance Thursday on how government agencies can use and implement provisions outlined in the AI in Government Act of 2020, focused particularly on the workforce needs to support such advanced technology. Issued as part […]

June 27, 2023

Hybrid work has dramatically reduced the number of people working in downtown Washington, D.C., to the detriment of the Metro public transit system, small businesses, and the District’s vitality as a whole. Equally clear is the federal government’s outsized impact […]

June 22, 2023

Social Security benefits have been a key element of federal employees’ overall retirement package since the creation of the Federal Employees Retirement System in 1986. Along with the basic federal retirement benefit and employees’ own savings and investments in the […]

June 7, 2023

A report released last week says artificial intelligence has stripped 3,900 technology jobs from the US economy in May alone — evidence supporting critics’ concerns about the technology’s potential to disrupt livelihoods. Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas claims their […]

May 30, 2023

The leak of classified Pentagon documents through a popular messaging platform is not about the leaker’s maturity, whistleblowing, or even the war. It’s about people and the need to propel and maintain a trusted workforce to mitigate insider risk proactively. […]

May 22, 2023

President Biden today announced his new choice to fill the empty seat on the Federal Communications Commission, which has been deadlocked with two Democrats and two Republicans for his entire presidency. Biden nominated Democrat Anna Gomez, who has worked in […]

May 17, 2023

Ongoing recruitment challenges for the Department of Veterans Affairs’ health care workforce are gaining more attention — and concerns — from Congress. The Veterans Health Administration is on track to reach its year-end target increase for its total number of […]

May 11, 2023

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits last week rose to its highest level in a year-and-a-half, though jobs remain plentiful by historical standards even as companies cut costs as the economy slows. Applications for jobless aid for the […]