Federal Civilian Workforce Hiring, Recruitment, and Related Compensation Practices for the Twenty-First Century

The U.S. federal governmentthe single largest direct-hiring organization in the nationemploys around 2 million civilian personnel.The authority to hire and manage civilians is covered by a patchwork of human capital programs and rules, primarily under Titles 5, 10, 32,and 38 of the U.S. Code. Over time, this broad collection of authorities has failed to keep pace with the dynamics of the current workforceand has also resulted in a range of workforce inequities. In an attempt to address such systemic problems, the federal government has implemented a variety of incremental changes over the years. The reforms have targeted elect agencies and job types and created an intricatesystem of demonstration projects, alternative personnel systems (APSs), and direct-hire authorities.