Air Force officials announce civilian hiring controls

  • Published
  • By Air Force News Services
Air Force leaders announced that hiring controls were instituted May 12 to reduce projected growth of the civilian workforce.

The Air Force-wide efforts to stem the civilian personnel growth are a result of Secretary of Defense Robert Gate¹s efficiency initiatives to maintain civilian manning at fiscal 2010 levels.

Hiring controls will allow Air Force officials to take a targeted approach to meet the mandated manning levels.

Effective immediately, one person will be hired for every two new vacancies in areas affected by hiring controls. This doesn¹t apply to current hiring actions when a job selection has already been made; however, all other hiring actions may only be filled at a 1:2 ratio as new vacancies occur.

Local civilian personnel employees and senior leaders are working hard to minimize the impact.

"These exceptions will obviously present some challenges. However, senior wing leadership is already working to prioritize our vacancies to ensure minimal impact to mission readiness and accomplishment," said Mr. Lee Windschitl, Chief, Civilian Personnel Office.

"As our nation and the Air Force face significant budgetary challenges, tools such as hiring controls help us manage hiring and posture ourselves for the future," said Paige Hinkle-Bowles, the deputy director of force management policy.

Hiring controls will enable a more focused approach to hiring, giving higher priority to strategic mission areas such as the nuclear enterprise, the acquisition workforce, and test and evaluation.

"Civilian hiring controls will be used as a bridging mechanism as the Air Force develops strategic plans for the future to ensure civilian authorizations are in the right place to meet mission priorities," said Lt.Gen. Darrell Jones, the deputy chief of staff of Air Force manpower, personnel and services.

Air Force officials will continue to monitor and assess hiring controls throughout the summer and will provide additional hiring guidance and prioritization details as the overall plan develops.

"The Air Force recognizes the invaluable contributions of our civilian workforce, but also recognizes the fiscal constraints under which all the services are operating. We will do our best to balance mission needs while taking care to minimize the effect on the civilian workforce," General Jones said.
For more information about hiring controls, individuals may contact their base civilian personnel office or visit the restricted-access Air Force personnel services website at https://gum-crm.csd.disa.mil/app/home.
For information about other personnel issues, call the Total Force Service Center at 800-525-0102.