National Nuclear Security Administration: Contractors' Strategies to Recruit and Retain a Critically Skilled Workforce Are Generally Effective
Published: 2005-02-02T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: Why GAO Did This Study
paragraphs: Responsibility for ensuring the safety and reliability of the nuclear weapons stockpile rests upon a cadre of workers at eight contractor-operated National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) weapons facilities. Many of these workers--including scientists, engineers, and technicians--have "critical" skills needed to maintain the stockpile. About 37 percent of these workers are at or near retirement age, raising concern about whether these specialists will have time to pass on their knowledge and expertise to new recruits. In this context, Congress asked us to (1) describe the approaches that NNSA, its contractors, and organizations with similar workforces are using to recruit and retain critically skilled workers; (2) assess the extent to which these approaches have been effective; and (3) describe any remaining challenges, strategies to mitigate these challenges, and the similarity of these challenges and strategies to those of organizations with comparable workforces.
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: NNSA contractors have each developed and implemented a multifaceted approach to recruit and retain critically skilled workers. These approaches are similar to those used by six organizations with comparable workforces with whom GAO spoke and consist of combinations of activities tailored to meet the specific needs of each facility. These activities include offering internships and providing knowledge transfer opportunities. NNSA has supported the contractors' efforts by, for example, providing additional funding to help them recruit workers to fill critically skilled positions. The efforts of NNSA's contractors to recruit and retain a critically skilled workforce have been generally effective. The contractors' fiscal year 2000 through 2003 data show that all eight facilities have maintained the critically skilled workforce needed to fulfill its current mission. In addition, our review of the workforce planning processes of each facility shows that they have incorporated, to varying degrees, the five principles GAO has identified as essential to strategic workforce planning. Finally, most of the program managers GAO spoke with believe their facilities have, and are well poised to maintain, the critically skilled workforce needed to fulfill their mission. NNSA contractors and the six organizations with comparable workforces face ongoing challenges in recruiting and retaining a critically skilled workforce, but are using a number of similar strategies to mitigate most of these challenges. These challenges include the amount of time it takes new staff to obtain security clearances and a shrinking pool of technically trained potential employees. Beyond such identifiable challenges, NNSA contractors also face future uncertainties, such as the possibility that a new contractor might be awarded the contract and shifts in their mission that could affect their ability to recruit and retain a critically skilled workforce in the future.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: Responsibility for ensuring the continued safety and reliability of the  several thousand nuclear weapons currently stored at strategic military  locations or deployed on military aircraft, missiles, or submarines rests  upon a cadre of scientists, engineers, and technicians—hereafter referred  to as “critically skilled workers”—within the National Nuclear Security  Administration (NNSA). As of fiscal year 2003, this critically skilled  workforce numbered approximately 10,200, with about 37 percent of the  workforce older than 51, placing many of these workers at or near the  NNSA-wide average retirement age of 60 within the next 10 years. This  raises concerns about whether the exodus of these specialists will outpace  their replacement and whether the specialists will have time to pass on  their knowledge and expertise to new recruits.
Within the Department of Energy (DOE), NNSA’s Office of Defense  Programs has primary responsibility for ensuring the safety and reliability  of the nuclear weapons stockpile. NNSA’s nuclear weapons complex  consists of eight contractor-operated facilities: three national laboratories  (Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, and Sandia); four production plants  (Kansas City, Pantex, Savannah River, and Y-12); and the Nevada Test Site.  NNSA oversees and supports these contractors, whose responsibilities  include ensuring that the facility can attract and retain the workforce  required to fulfill the facility’s mission. Many of these workers possess  certain critical skills not readily available in the job market, the loss of  which could impair the facility’s ability to maintain the safety and reliability  of the nation’s nuclear weapons. While these workers often have advanced  degrees in scientific or engineering fields, it generally takes an additional 2  to 3 years of on-the-job training to achieve the skills necessary to fill a  critical skills position.
With the end of the Cold War and the declaration of a moratorium on  nuclear testing in 1992, the Office of Defense Programs’ total contractor  workforce fell from approximately 52,000 in fiscal year 1992 to  approximately 26,000 in fiscal year 2003, through targeted downsizing and  closing of production facilities. During this time, the Office of Defense  Programs restructured the nuclear weapons complex to focus on a new  mission—known as the Stockpile Stewardship Program—to maintain the  safety and reliability of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile indefinitely  without nuclear testing. In this test-free environment, the ultimate success  of the program depends on the expert judgment and capabilities of NNSA’s  critically skilled workforce to maintain and assess the condition of the  stockpile.
To address concerns about the effect of the shrinking critically skilled  workforce on NNSA’s ability to fulfill its stockpile stewardship  responsibilities, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year  1997 established the Commission on Maintaining U.S. Nuclear Weapons  Expertise (known as the “Chiles Commission”) and directed it to assess  and report to the Congress on, among other things, DOE’s ongoing efforts  to recruit and retain scientific, engineering, and technical personnel. The  Commission’s report projected that large numbers of retirements over the  next few years could further erode the experience and expertise of the  critically skilled workforce. The Chiles Commission warned that unless  DOE acted quickly to recruit and retain its critically skilled  employees—and sharpen the expertise already available—the department  could have difficulty ensuring the safety, security, and reliability of the  nation’s nuclear weapons. Although the Chiles Commission noted that  many DOE officials already understood the challenges, it found few  initiatives to change in any basic way the manner in which these officials  approached recruitment, career management, or retention.
In this context, you asked us to (1) describe the approaches that NNSA, its  contractors, and organizations with comparable workforces are using to  recruit and retain critically skilled workers; (2) assess the effectiveness of  the NNSA contractors’ approaches; and (3) describe any ongoing  challenges NNSA’s contractors face in recruiting and retaining this  specialized workforce, any strategies they are using to mitigate these  challenges, and the extent to which such challenges and strategies are  similar to those of organizations with comparable workforces.
To describe the approaches NNSA contractors are using to recruit and  retain a critically skilled workforce, we spoke with human resource and  workforce planning managers at each of the eight NNSA nuclear weapons  complex facilities. Furthermore, we spoke with human resource managers  from six research and advanced technology organizations with comparable  workforces to validate the extent to which the ongoing challenges  identified by NNSA exist in other comparable organizations and to gather  information on strategies these organizations are using to mitigate their  challenges. We selected organizations with similar workforces based on  their selection by the Chiles Commission as a benchmarking organization;  their geographic dispersal; and their representation of different  high-technology, laboratory, or manufacturing industry segments. We also  spoke with two industry associations representing manufacturing and  nuclear materials industries to validate whether the challenges cited by  these organizations were consistent with those noted by other groups in  similar industries.
To assess the effectiveness of the approaches used to recruit and retain  critically skilled workers, we collected a variety of workforce data from  each facility, including total numbers of Defense Program and critically  skilled workers and average ages of these workers broken out by job  classification, hiring and attrition trends, average retirement ages, and  forecasted needs for critically skilled workers. To assess the reliability of  these data, we reviewed relevant documentation, interviewed cognizant  contractor officials, obtained data from key database officials, and  reviewed responses to a series of data reliability questions covering issues  such as data entry, access, quality control procedures, and the accuracy  and completeness of the data. We added follow-up questions whenever  necessary. We determined that the data were sufficiently reliable for the  purposes of this report. In addition, we conducted structured interviews  with 20 managers in the Stockpile Stewardship Program, including at least  2 managers at each of the eight facilities, and evaluated each facility’s  workforce planning process using our five principles of strategic workforce  planning. These five principles are (1) involving management and  employees in developing and implementing the strategic workforce plan,  (2) determining critical skills needs through workforce gap analysis, (3)  developing workforce strategies to fill gaps, (4) building needed  capabilities to support workforce strategies, and (5) monitoring and  evaluating progress in achieving goals.
To describe the ongoing challenges NNSA contractors face in recruiting  and retaining a critically skilled workforce, we spoke with contractor  human resource, workforce planning, and Stockpile Stewardship Program  managers. We also interviewed human resource representatives at the eight  organizations with comparable workforces to determine the extent to  which they face similar challenges and are using similar approaches to  address their challenges. We conducted our work from February 2004  through January 2005 in accordance with generally accepted government  auditing standards. More details on the scope and methodology of our  review are presented in appendix I.
subsections: section_title: Background
paragraphs: To ensure the safety, security, and reliability of the nation’s nuclear  weapons stockpile, NNSA relies on contractors who manage and operate  government-owned laboratories, production plants, and a test site. The  number of workers and facilities involved in the nuclear weapons program  has changed since the program began in the early 1940s at various  locations, such as the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.  Each facility performs a different function, all collectively working toward  fulfilling NNSA’s nuclear weapons related mission. Figure 1 shows the  locations of the facilities and describes their functions.
Historically, confidence in the safety and reliability of the nuclear stockpile  derived, in part, from underground live testing of nuclear weapons. In 1992,  at the end of the Cold War, the United States scaled back its operations,  ceased live testing of nuclear weapons, and adopted the Stockpile  Stewardship Program as an alternative to testing. The Stockpile  Stewardship Program focuses on obtaining a wide range of data through  nonnuclear tests, computer modeling, experimentation, and simulation to  make expert judgments about the safety, security, and reliability of the  nuclear weapons.
The scaling back of operations and the cessation of nuclear testing led DOE  to reduce its workforce by downsizing existing staff and reducing its  emphasis on recruiting. The number of defense program workers declined  by about 50 percent, from a high of about 52,000 in fiscal year 1992 to about  26,000 in fiscal year 2003. The remaining workers needed to develop skills  that were critical to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of the nuclear  stockpile without conducting tests. Also, since the United States was no  longer designing and producing nuclear weapons, the workers needed to  develop new surveillance and maintenance skills to detect potential or  actual defects in the aging weapons and replace components to extend the  life of the warheads. Currently, the three laboratories report that it takes at  least 3 years of specialized training and work experience—and sometimes  more for unique jobs, such as safety engineers—for workers to obtain the  skills needed to be considered critically skilled. According to the four  production plants and the Nevada Test Site, it takes at least 2 years of  specialized training and work experience for workers to gain the critical  skills necessary to fulfill their mission. As of the end of fiscal year 2003, of  the nearly 26,000 defense program workers, 10,186 were classified as  critically skilled. Figure 2 shows the total number of defense program  workers, as well as the number of workers classified as critically skilled, at  each of the facilities as of the end of fiscal year 2003.
NNSA and the contractors broadly categorize their workers by the type of  work they do. Over 70 percent of all the critically skilled workers fall into  the engineer, scientist, or technician categories. The remaining critically  skilled workers perform a diverse set of critical job functions. For example,  operators operate machines, systems, equipment, and plants for the  purposes of producing, destroying, and storing materials and supplies. The  tasks operators perform require a high degree of precision, and it often  takes several years for operators to achieve proficiency. Professional  administrative positions include health physicists, who develop programs  to protect personnel from the effects of radiation, and security specialists,  who develop, conduct, monitor, and maintain security-related programs.  Crafts workers are involved in fabricating materials and equipment and  constructing, altering, and maintaining buildings, bridges, pipelines, and  other structures. It generally takes at least 2 years of training and education  for crafts workers to obtain the hand or machine skills required. NNSA  gathers information from the contractors and, twice each year, issues  reports on certain characteristics of critically skilled workers, such as age  and vacancy rates. NNSA uses this information to monitor the progress of  the laboratories in meeting critical skill needs. Table 1 shows the numbers  of critically skilled workers by skill area at each facility for fiscal year 2003.
By the late 1990s, concerns were raised about the ability of DOE’s  contractors to fulfill the goals of the Stockpile Stewardship Program  because the workforce had aged, which could potentially leave gaps in  knowledge as older workers retired. In response, the Congress created the  Commission on Maintaining United States Nuclear Weapons Expertise,  commonly known as the Chiles Commission, and mandated that it review  ongoing DOE efforts to attract scientific, engineering, and technical  personnel; recommend improvements and identify actions to implement  these improvements where needed; and develop a plan for recruitment and  retention within the DOE nuclear weapons complex.
In March 1999, the Chiles Commission reported that the downsizing  resulting from the change from weapons production to stockpile  stewardship left a considerably smaller and older contractor workforce.  Recognizing that the contractors had already lost some of their critically  skilled workers, the Commission projected that large numbers of  retirements over the next few years could further erode the experience and  expertise at the facilities. The Commission warned that unless DOE acted  quickly to retain and sharpen the expertise already available and “recruit,  train, retain, and inspire an evolving nuclear workforce of great breadth,  depth, and capability,” DOE could have difficulty ensuring the safety and  reliability of the nation’s nuclear weapons.
In addition, the Chiles Commission found that many workers were anxious  about job security and the nation’s commitment to the nuclear weapons  program in the wake of DOE’s downsizing. This anxiety fostered an  unfavorable environment for recruiting and retaining highly skilled  workers. In addition, the Commission predicted that recruitment and  retention of highly skilled workers would become more competitive  because, in general, only U.S. citizens may obtain the security clearances  required to work in the nuclear weapons program and contractors faced a  shrinking pool of U.S. citizens graduating with degrees in science and  engineering, especially compared with the growing pool of non-U.S.  citizens graduating with those degrees. Furthermore, the Commission  found that contractors needed to identify their requirements for critically  skilled workers early because of the time it takes to complete security  background checks and for workers to gain the experience necessary  through specialized or on-the-job training. As a result of its review, the  Chiles Commission made 12 recommendations based on its findings at  DOE and its review of industries with similar workforces. Four of the  Commission’s recommendations focused on improving recruitment,  training, and retention strategies. Specifically, the Commission  recommended that DOE and its contractors should (1) establish and  implement plans for replenishing essential critical skill workforce needs,  (2) provide contractors with expanded latitude and flexibility in personnel  matters, (3) expand training and career planning programs, and (4) expand  the use of former nuclear weapons program employees. In response to the  Chiles Commission report, Defense Programs developed a point-by-point  action plan to address each of the 12 recommendations.
section_title: NNSA’s Contractors Use Multidimensional Recruiting and Retention Approaches Similar to Those Used by Organizations with Comparable Workforces
paragraphs: Since the Chiles Commission report was issued, the contractors for NNSA’s  weapons laboratories, production plants, and the Nevada Test Site have  developed a variety of recruitment and retention approaches, blending  them to meet their specific critical skill needs. These approaches are  similar to each others and to those used by organizations with comparable  workforces. NNSA has supported its contractors by clarifying the roles and  responsibilities of the contractors and providing additional funding to help  them recruit workers to fill critically skilled positions.
subsections: section_title: Each Contractor Addresses the Facility’s Specific Needs through a Combination of Activities
paragraphs: NNSA contractors developed multifaceted approaches to recruiting and  retaining critically skilled workers that primarily focus on hiring recent  graduates from universities and colleges. These approaches include  targeted recruitment activities, educational outreach programs,  competitive compensation and benefits packages, and professional  development and knowledge transfer programs. Despite the array of  initiatives used across facilities, the contractors for the laboratories and for  the production plants have used generally similar approaches for recruiting  and retaining critically skilled workers.
subsections: section_title: Focusing Recruitment Efforts for Better Results
paragraphs: All the contractors reported that, over the past few years, they have  refocused their recruiting efforts at universities and other educational  institutions to improve their chances of recruiting highly qualified job  candidates in an increasingly competitive job market. Whether at a  laboratory or production plant, NNSA contractors have done this by  establishing recruiting teams to work with the faculty in scientific and  engineering departments to attract highly qualified candidates. These  recruiting teams generally involve both human resources officials and  technical recruiters—scientists, engineers, technicians, or stockpile  stewardship program managers with knowledge about the technical needs  of the facility. The teams attend recruiting fairs, professional workshops,  and other similar events. Some of the technical recruiters said that their  involvement enables them to more reliably and quickly assess the job  candidates, as well as answer questions the candidates have about specific  technical programs.
At the laboratories, technical recruiters bring valuable contacts to the  recruitment process, having already established working or professional  relationships with faculty and students at various colleges and universities.  Some of the contractor officials stated that these contacts enable the  technical recruiters to evaluate potential job candidates before they apply  for jobs. The type and depth of the relationships vary, but many have been  built from joint research efforts, adjunct teaching at local universities, or  similar collaborations. According to human resource officials, these  relationships have proven extremely valuable in identifying and recruiting  high quality students for internships, fellowships, post-doctoral  appointments, and full-time positions. For example, Lawrence Livermore  National Laboratory, which the University of California operates under  contract, collaborates with several of the University of California college  campuses. The laboratory sponsors and partially funds joint research  efforts involving both faculty and students. In addition, many laboratory  scientists have access to faculty and students through teaching segments of  science or math classes. According to Lawrence Livermore officials, these  collaborations have resulted in productive recruitment opportunities.
All three laboratories also indicated that their relationships with colleges  and universities have served as a key component of recruitment plans.  Contractors use these relationships, as well as their reviews of past  recruitment successes and comparisons of critical skill needs with course  curricula, to target specific colleges and universities for recruitment. For  example, on the basis of an initial analysis of its collaborative research  efforts, Sandia narrowed its list of places to recruit to 22 universities. The  laboratory further prioritized those universities according to four key  variables: academic quality, research investment, past recruitment  successes, and diversity of students. According to Sandia officials, this  approach has allowed Sandia to effectively meet its critical skill needs.
Similar to the laboratories, the production plants also use technical  recruiters in their efforts to recruit critically skilled workers, focusing on  recent graduates from high schools, technical schools, community  colleges, and universities. While these recruitment efforts have been  fruitful, many of the contractors at NNSA’s production plants and at the  Nevada Test Site have also relied on recruiting mid-career workers to fill  other critical skill positions because of the level of expertise that these  positions need. For example, the Pantex plant has sought out mid-career  workers to fill key critical skills positions, such as production technicians.  Pantex has partnered with the Amarillo Community College and the Texas  Workforce Center to develop a range of technical courses, from 6 weeks to  6 months long, that generates trained production technicians. Most of these  trainees are currently employed elsewhere locally. While trainees cover all  course costs, Pantex offers each graduating technician an interview for  employment, which allows the plant to fill vacancies with the most  qualified graduates. As of July 2004, Pantex officials stated that the year-old  program has graduated 70 participants and that they plan to hire 24  production technicians this spring.
In addition, a manager who works for the contractor operating the Nevada  Test Site said that about 15 percent of his new hires must come on board  with at least 10 years’ work experience to perform the required work. He  noted that, given the demands placed on the contractor to conduct  experiments developed by the weapons laboratories and record the  resulting data, he cannot always wait the 3 to 4 years required for  inexperienced new hires to obtain their security clearances and gain the  skills necessary to perform the work. Some production plants have  addressed this issue by recruiting at professional or trade association  meetings and seeking out experienced workers from other NNSA facilities  that are being downsized or closed, such as the Rocky Flats production  facility, located outside Denver.
section_title: Providing Educational Outreach
paragraphs: The NNSA contractors, primarily the laboratories, provide a wide range of  programs including postdoctoral positions, internships, fellowships, and  summer employment to attract and develop critically skilled workers.  According to the contractors, educational programs at the facilities further  the education of participants, increase awareness of the facilities as places  of employment, and develop pools of potential job candidates. The  contractors reported that these programs are a significant source of new  hires. Contractors may offer full-time positions to program participants  who already have earned degrees by the time they complete their program  participation; program participants without degrees may apply for full-time  positions at the facilities after graduating.
The laboratories typically hire a greater proportion of graduates with Ph.D.  and master’s degrees than the production facilities and the test site  do—about 62 percent of the critically skilled workers at the laboratories  have postgraduate degrees, in contrast with about 18 percent of the  critically skilled workers at the production plants and the test site.
Laboratory officials said they offer a variety of graduate-level and  post-doctoral programs in an effort to recruit and retain workers with the  level of education needed. For example, Sandia offers about 1,200  internships each year, generally evenly split between undergraduate and  graduate students. Many of the interns return to the facility for successive  internships, allowing them to gain additional skills and creating a pipeline  of future job candidates for the laboratory. Generally, the laboratory  converts about 15 percent of its interns to full-time positions each year. In  addition to internships, Sandia also offers fellowships, sometimes  partnering with professional societies such as the National Physical  Sciences Consortium, which awards fellowships to U.S. citizens pursuing  graduate study in the physical sciences. Similarly, Lawrence Livermore  instituted the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Postdoctoral  Fellowship Program in 1998. The laboratory typically receives 300 to 400  applications a year for three to five fellowships. Since the program’s  inception, the laboratory has appointed 15 fellows, 6 of whom have been  converted to full-time employees. The laboratory has also hired about 40  other workers who were identified from the fellowship applicant pool.
In addition to the shorter term recruiting approach of offering internships  and fellowships, the laboratories have also adopted a longer-term strategy  for developing candidates to fill future critical skill needs. All of the  laboratories offer educational outreach programs that seek to promote  basic science, math, and engineering at local middle and high schools. The  contractors cited their concern with statistics that show shrinking pools of  U.S. students graduating with science and math degrees as a reason for  these programs. The programs range from organizing informal school  activities to offering specialized curricula, or academies, at local schools.  In one program, Sandia partners with professional societies and industry to  create a pool of potential technicians in photonics and optical engineering,  which are considered critical skill areas at the laboratory and certain  industries and include work with lasers, fiber optics, and various optical  systems. Sandia’s program begins at the middle school level by exposing  students to science and math and encouraging them to pursue careers in  those fields. At the high school level, the program recruits the most  promising students to participate in the Photonics Academy, which offers a  4-year packaged curriculum and coursework in science and math and the  opportunity for an internship at Sandia. Students can pursue their  education in photonics and optical engineering at the Albuquerque  Technical Vocational Institute or the University of New Mexico. According  to Sandia officials, the program has become very successful, and other  entities, including the State of New Mexico, have begun to establish similar  programs to promote careers in scientific and mathematical disciplines.
While the laboratories offer a more extensive variety of internship and  fellowship programs, the production plants have also established  educational programs that help the facilities recruit critically skilled  workers. For example, Pantex has partnered with Texas Tech University  and other universities to promote student work programs in an effort to  encourage students to pursue educations in areas related to science and  engineering, such as mathematics, physics, materials science, and nuclear  engineering. Pantex officials said that 40 students participated in the  student work programs in fiscal year 2003.
section_title: Maintaining Competitiveness
paragraphs: NNSA’s contractors at the laboratories, production plants, and test site all  cited the opportunity to do a variety of challenging and cutting-edge work  as their most important assets in competing against industry to attract  critically skilled workers. Many of the facilities, particularly the  laboratories, perform work unrelated to the nuclear weapons program for  customers other than NNSA. For example, the Los Alamos National  Laboratory performs advanced research in such areas as medical  technology, genetics, space sciences, and nanoscience, which involves  using machines and their components to do research on a molecular level.  NNSA laboratories participate in the Laboratory Directed Research and  Development program, which allows them to use up to 6 percent of their  budgets to fund basic research selected on their scientific and technical  merits. Similarly, NNSA production plants can set aside up to 2 percent of  their budgets through the Plant-Directed Research and Development  program, for basic science research that is competitively awarded in areas  to be determined by the facilities’ directors. Contractor officials noted that  these research funds have helped to attract and retain workers. For  example, the Savannah River plant is using some of its research dollars to  fund unclassified hydrogen research. Savannah River officials anticipate  that the opportunity to contribute to a growing area of important work will  attract new workers and help retain current workers.
The contractors also noted that the cutting-edge nature of the work done in  the nuclear weapons program, particularly work relating to elements of the  Stockpile Stewardship Program, offers many challenges in basic science  research that are unique to NNSA facilities. Contractor recruiters said that  they use the cutting-edge nature of this work as an incentive to attract  workers to critical skill positions during recruitment events. For example, a  manager who works for the contractor operating the Nevada Test Site  stated that the opportunity to perform sophisticated measurements and  capture data during stockpile stewardship program experiments, some of  which have never been done before, is a major factor in attracting  engineers for critical skill positions.
In addition to the nature of the work, all the contractors noted the  importance of being able to offer salaries and other forms of compensation  and benefits to remain competitive with industry and other government  entities for highly skilled workers. The contractors said they have adopted  some changes to their compensation or benefits programs as a result of  comparing their programs with those of industry. For example,  laboratories, production facilities, and the test site have considered such  options as bonuses for critically skilled new hires; bonuses to retain  critically skilled workers; various forms of bonuses, such as lump-sum  payments and stock options; increased base salaries in specialty areas; and  awards and recognition programs. To be more competitive in attracting  critically skilled workers, some contractors have also begun providing day  care facilities, flexible work hours, and fitness centers to improve workers’  quality of life.
section_title: Providing Professional Development and Knowledge Transfer Opportunities
paragraphs: All of the contractors reported having developed or enhanced their  professional development programs and knowledge transfer opportunities  in an effort to attract and train new workers, retrain current workers to fill  certain critical skill positions, and help retain the current workforce. Most  of the professional development programs provide benefits to workers to  further their training or education. Some programs may provide an avenue  for attending professional workshops or conferences; others may help  workers earn a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree. For example,  Sandia offers the One Year On Campus program as a hiring tool for  prospective employees. This program allows the employee to pursue a  nonthesis master’s degree over an 18-month period. Sandia will pay the full  tuition and fees for the degree, as well as paying the participant a partial  salary and full benefits during the program’s duration.
Similarly, the production plants offer professional development programs.  For example, Pantex pays the educational expenses for workers to earn  bachelor’s or master’s degrees in areas relevant to work performed at the  plant. Workers pursue their degrees through community colleges or  long-distance learning opportunities, such as correspondence courses or  Internet-based education. Furthermore, Pantex and Amarillo Community  College have partnered with Texas Tech University, situated about 2 hours  away, to offer evening or weekend courses taught by Texas Tech  professors. Pantex also has a fellowship program that allows employees to  take leave from work and return to school full-time, while still earning a  salary, if they commit to working for Pantex for an agreed-upon time after  completing the degree. According to Pantex officials, their professional  development program is one key tool used to attract and retain workers.  They also noted that many technicians take advantage of the opportunities  offered to earn degrees in engineering.
In addition, all the facilities offer knowledge transfer programs, such as  training programs led by senior workers and mentoring programs. For  example, the Los Alamos National Laboratory offers the Theoretical  Institute for Thermonuclear and Nuclear Studies program, which Los  Alamos officials describe as a 3-year, highly intensive training program  taught by senior scientists. According to Los Alamos officials, completing  the program is comparable to earning a Ph.D. Although not required as a  condition of employment, participating in the program is highly  encouraged, and managers see it as an opportunity for workers to improve  their technical knowledge. Through Sandia’s Weapons Intern Program,  individuals participate in a 1-year technically oriented work study program  designed to accelerate the development of engineers and scientists in  understanding stockpile stewardship tools, processes, and techniques.  Most facilities also offer mentoring programs that pair new hires with  senior workers to assist with on-the-job training and other aspects of  working at the facility. For example, the Y-12 plant has a mentoring and job  rotation program that pairs new hires with senior workers for the first 6  months of employment, during which time the new hires rotate among  several job assignments. A second phase of the program identifies  technical workers in the early to middle stages of their careers for rotation  through assignments to further their professional development.
section_title: Organizations with Comparable Workforces Use Recruiting and Retention Approaches Similar to Those Used by NNSA Contractors
paragraphs: As with NNSA, officials we contacted at organizations with comparable  workforces explained that they relied on a mixture of recruitment and  retention approaches that best addresses their needs. The approaches they  described paralleled those used by NNSA contractors and included  focusing their recruitment efforts, providing educational outreach  programs, assessing their compensation packages to ensure that they  remain competitive, and providing professional development programs.
Officials from these organizations utilize strategies to target universities  that result in hiring top workers. Many of the organizations described  efforts to develop networks with faculty and students, some based on  collaborative research programs. For example, officials at the Jet  Propulsion Laboratory noted that the laboratory recruits at 52 universities,  but selects 20 to 30 each year as the top priorities for their recruitment  efforts, on the basis of specific criteria. The criteria include comparing the  laboratory’s critical skill needs to course curricula, as well as targeting the  universities with which the laboratory has a collaborative research effort.
Many of the officials at organizations with similar workforces also  mentioned relying upon educational outreach programs, internships, and  fellowships as a way of addressing their recruitment and retention needs.  These programs can promote interest in basic science and math to younger  students at local schools, increase the awareness about employment  opportunities at the organization among universities and professional  societies, and serve as a means to develop staff who may eventually be  hired full time at the facility. For example, an official at the Charles Stark  Draper Laboratory stated that the laboratory implements several programs  intended to engage students at local schools in math and science activities.  One such program allows high school students to shadow employees at the  laboratory. The laboratory also offers fellowships and cooperative work  programs for students at various universities. Some of the participating  students are offered full-time positions at the laboratory once their  education is complete.
Officials at each of the organizations noted the importance of being  competitive in order to attract the workers with the required skills. Most of  the officials cited challenging work as one of the key incentives to attract  new workers. The officials also cited competitive salaries and benefits as  being crucial to recruiting and retaining their workers, and several noted  that they compared their compensation and benefits packages with those  of competing organizations. The officials cited examples of other benefits  that help in their recruiting and retention efforts, such as providing signing  bonuses, paying for relocation expenses, and offering recognition and  awards programs.
Finally, officials at most of the organizations said they use a variety of  professional development programs and cited their importance in  recruiting and retention efforts. Similar to NNSA facilities, the other  organizations have programs that pay for educational expenses for  obtaining a bachelor’s or master’s degree. For example, the Applied Physics  Laboratory, a division of the Johns Hopkins University, offers on-site  master’s degrees through the university in six different subject areas. The  information taught in these subject areas directly applies to the Applied  Physics Laboratory’s research. Moreover, senior staff at the laboratory are  given the opportunity to teach some of the courses.
section_title: NNSA Supports Contractors’ Efforts by Clarifying Roles and Responsibilities and Providing Additional Funding
paragraphs: NNSA has supported the contractors’ efforts to recruit and retain their  critically skilled workforce in a couple of ways. NNSA has worked with the  contractors to clarify the roles and responsibilities of its contractors and  has provided additional funding to help the contractors obtain workers to  fill critically skilled positions.
subsections: section_title: NNSA Has Clarified Contractors’ Roles and Responsibilities
paragraphs: In response to Chiles Commission concerns regarding systemic problems  with DOE management and policies that hindered recruitment and  retention efforts, NNSA has reorganized to streamline contract oversight.  In December 2002, NNSA reorganized to move its operational oversight  from its regional-based operations offices to facility-based site offices. By  eliminating its operations offices and setting up site offices, NNSA removed  a layer of management and placed the contracting officers, a crucial  element of the oversight process, closer to the contractors for which they  have oversight responsibility. Also, NNSA consolidated business and  technical support functions, including support for human resources and  contracting issues, to a single service center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
In addition, NNSA has worked with the contractors to clarify and act on  programs proposed by the contractors intended to improve their ability to  recruit and retain critically skilled workers. Each contract references DOE  Order 350.1 and contains Appendix A, which set forth certain contractor  human resource management policies and which describe, among other  things, the types of programs that the contractors can charge to the  contract. These contract elements lay out the flexibility afforded the  contractors in making changes to compensation and benefits programs to  be more competitive. Certain types of changes, such as a variable pay  program, require approval by NNSA. Many of the contractors  acknowledged that NNSA responded quickly to clarify and act on proposed  programs. For example, in July 2000, Los Alamos reported to NNSA that it  had difficulty recruiting computer scientists and that the turnover rate for  these workers was twice that of other workers. Los Alamos proposed to  improve its recruitment and retention efforts by increasing the base  salaries of the computer scientists and offering other benefits, such as  hiring bonuses and relocation expenses. In August 2000, after a series of  meetings and correspondences between NNSA and Los Alamos, NNSA  approved Los Alamos’ request to increase the base salaries of computer  scientiests and to offer them hiring bonsues. However, NNSA denied Los  Alamos’ request to approve the relocation benefits.
In addition to describing the types of programs that the contractors can  charge to the contracts for human resources management programs, DOE  Order 350.1 also requires that DOE periodically review contractor studies  of how their compensation and benefits programs compare with those of  other organizations to ensure the programs are reasonable. In April 2004,  we reported that contractor studies regarding benefits did not cover all  sites and were inconsistent from one contractor location to another, calling  into question the validity and comparability of the results. NNSA officials  told us they have contracted with a human resources consultant on a new  benefits valuation study. This study compares the laboratories’ benefits  against those of market competitors, using such data as pension and health  care programs, vacation, and disability. NNSA officials plan to use the  results of the study to assess the contractors’ benefits programs, including  the reasonableness of benefits and the contractors’ requests for increases  in benefits. NNSA plans to commission a second benefits valuation study  on two production plants and the test site. Also, NNSA officials indicate  that they are working with the contractors to develop a common  methodology to assess their compensation programs. NNSA plans to use  the results of this analysis to assess the contractors’ compensation  programs, including the reasonableness of the programs and the  contractors’ requests for increases in compensation.
section_title: NNSA Has Provided Contractors with Additional Funding
paragraphs: In recognition of the need to ensure contractors can meet their critical skill  requirements, NNSA has provided additional funding for the three  laboratories through the Laboratory Critical Skills Development Program.
This program is designed to encourage the laboratories to identify  projected gaps in critical skills and develop programs that attract potential  candidates at an early age to fill those gaps. The program is also designed  to be flexible, allowing the laboratories to submit proposals to NNSA for  the funds. The proposals vary considerably, some targeting middle school  or high school, while others target college-age students. Some of the  proposals include summer school opportunities, internships and  fellowships, or more formal education programs in high school or college.  NNSA provided $4.35 million for fiscal year 2004, a decrease from fiscal  year 2003 funding of about $0.23 million. The program also requires that the  contractor running each laboratory match NNSA’s funding on a one-to-one  basis and track success of the program.
An official at Sandia reported that, at first, line management did not  support the Critical Skills Development Program, particularly because of  the matching funds requirement. However, the program has become very  successful and is seen as a means of recruiting critically skilled workers at  a lower cost than in the past. In fiscal year 2003, Sandia converted 20  student participants to full-time staff from such programs as College Cyber  Defenders Institute, Microsystems and Engineering Sciences Applications  Institute, Materials Science Research Institute, and National Collegiate  Pulsed Power Research Institute. According to Sandia officials, the  Laboratory Critical Skills Development Program has become so popular  that, collectively, line managers fund their share of the program at 2.5 times  NNSA’s one-to-one matching requirement.
section_title: Contractors’ Approaches for Recruiting and Retaining a Critically Skilled Workforce Have Been Generally Effective
paragraphs: The efforts of NNSA’s contractors to recruit and retain a critically skilled  workforce have been generally effective, according to our analysis of the  contractors’ data, our review of the contractors’ workforce planning  processes, and information gathered from stockpile stewardship program  managers.
subsections: section_title: Data Generally Demonstrate Hiring Levels Are Sufficient to Offset Current and Anticipated Attrition
paragraphs: Contractors’ data on critical skill positions indicate that the eight facilities  have experienced low turnover rates and that the average age of critically  skilled workers is expected to remain steady or decrease at almost all of  the facilities. The data also demonstrate that most facilities have been  hiring at a level sufficient to offset current and anticipated attrition.  However, some facilities have limited or no data available on the number of  new critically skilled workers hired because their method of organizing  their critically skilled workforce, which is different from the ways the other  facilities organize these employees, makes data on new hires difficult to  collect.
subsections: section_title: Facilities Have Experienced Low Turnover and the Average Age of Critically Skilled Workers Is Generally Steady
paragraphs: Contractors’ data show that turnover rates for critically skilled workers  have been low. Of the 10,186 positions across the eight nuclear weapons  facilities classified as critically skilled as of the end of fiscal year 2003, only  2 percent were vacant at any point during the year. From fiscal years 2000  through 2003, the turnover rate for critically skilled workers across  facilities—including both retirement and non-retirement related job  termination—was 3.92 percent. The highest turnover for this time period  was 5.35 percent at the Nevada Test Site, and the lowest turnover was .067  percent at Savannah River (see fig. 3).
The average age of critically skilled workers across the complex has  remained relatively steady since the end of 2001, at approximately 47 years  of age. According to NNSA program managers, this is the result of a steady  increase in the average age at the production plants, and a  counterbalancing steady decrease at the laboratories and test site. For  example, among the laboratories, NNSA has projected the trend in the  average age of critically skilled workers to be decreasing for Sandia and  Los Alamos, and remaining flat for Lawrence Livermore through 2005.  Among the production plants, NNSA is projecting that the average age will  decrease at Kansas City, increase at Savannah River, and hold steady at  Pantex and Y-12 through 2005. NNSA also projects the average age at the  Nevada Test Site to be decreasing through 2005. While the overall average  age across the nuclear weapons complex has been holding steady, NNSA  program managers believe that the average age will decrease starting in  2006, when staff at or beyond retirement age who had remained at the  facilities to, among other things, train newer workers in critical skill areas,  begin to leave the facility.
section_title: Most Facilities Have Hired a Sufficient Number of Staff with Critical Skills to Meet Current and Near Future Needs
paragraphs: Table 2 shows that for fiscal years 2000 through 2003, five NNSA facilities  for which data were available hired, on average, 94 percent more critically  skilled staff than they needed to replace because of retirements or other  separations (i.e., for every one critically skilled worker who separated, the  facilities hired 1.94 people). These facilities adopted this hiring pattern to  maintain the critically skilled workforce needed to fulfill the current  mission of the Stockpile Stewardship Program, to make up for past hiring  shortages, and to proactively plan for the next 10 years, when as much as  39 percent of the current workforce is or will soon be eligible to retire.
The human resource managers at many of the facilities stressed the  importance of bringing in new staff early enough to take advantage of  knowledge transfer opportunities before more experienced workers retire.  While most of the critically skilled hires have advanced degrees, these  workers often require additional, job-specific training because of the  specialized and often classified nature of work in the nuclear weapons  complex. Furthermore, the managers pointed out that it has been taking 1  to 2 years on average for new hires to obtain security clearances. In order  for the new hire to be cleared and trained to take on critical work when the  experienced staff member leaves, it is useful for the new staff member to  be hired 2 to 3 years ahead of the retirees’ anticipated departure.
To compensate for recent attrition, an aging workforce, and an increasing  number of critical skill positions, the Nevada Test Site has been hiring at a  greater rate than any of the other facilities in recent years—2.71 new staff  were hired for every 1 that left. With an average retirement age of  approximately 62 and approximately 30 percent of its workforce over the  age of 55, the facility has been planning ahead to replace staff who are  expected to retire in the near future, according to site officials. They  believe the rate at which the facility has been hiring will ensure that the  workforce will maintain the skills necessary to complete its mission.  Sandia has also been hiring aggressively over the past 4 years, bringing in  almost twice the number of critical skill hires needed to replace critical  skill workers who separated during that period. According to human  resource officers, the laboratory had recently fallen behind in its efforts to  replace critically skilled workers who retired or left the facility for other  reasons. As a result, Sandia embarked on an aggressive hiring effort to  replace these needed critical skill workers. Human resource managers  stated that their efforts have been successful and that future hiring will  more closely match the number of separating critical skill workers,  assuming no significant programmatic changes.
Y-12 has also hired almost twice the workers needed to replace those who  left. Human resource managers at Y-12 stated that they decided to take this  course of action so that the facility would have the necessary critically  skilled workers in place prior to the anticipated retirements of experienced  workers. The average retirement age for critically skilled workers at Y-12 is  approximately 59 years, and 364 of its critically skilled workers as of fiscal  year 2003, or about 23 percent, are over the age of 55. Furthermore, human  resource managers stated that the job market for many of the critical skill  positions required at Y-12 is relatively good at the moment; therefore, the  facility is trying to stay ahead of the perceived future market crunch by  bringing these highly skilled workers into Y-12 now. Similarly, Kansas City  has recently been hiring more critically skilled workers than needed to  replace those leaving—1.78 workers for every 1 departing. According to  human resource managers, this hiring was done so the facility would be  better positioned to meet its future needs in the Stockpile Life Extension  Program—a component of Defense Programs that is focused on  maintaining and refurbishing existing nuclear weapons. Because of  anticipated retirements in the next decade, the contractor has estimated  that it has a 5-year window in which to ensure that essential knowledge  gets transferred from experienced employees to newer staff so that the  facility will be able to fulfill the program’s mission. Pantex has also been  hiring at elevated levels—bringing in 1.65 new hires for every employee  who left—in order to replace departing critically skilled employees due to  retirements or other separations and to accomplish its expanding work.  For example, in fiscal year 2007, the facility will need to increase its cadre  of critically skilled technicians and operators by over 50 positions, which  reflects a growth of about 4 percent, when it takes on new responsibilities  in the Stockpile Life Extension Program.
While these facilities reported that they generally have the critically skilled  workers needed, they pointed out that isolated gaps exist for specific  positions at some facilities and efforts are ongoing to fill these openings.  For example, Y-12 mentioned the high market demand for metallurgists and  fire protection engineers as posing a challenge in hiring for these positions.  The Nevada Test Site, whose turnover rates have exceeded 10 percent in 1  year, has had difficulty retaining the number of critically skilled crafts  people needed, in part because it is competing with the building  construction industry in Las Vegas. The site officials we interviewed said  that they are continuing to overcome these workforce challenges and  believe they will be able to fill these positions in the years to come;  however, they acknowledge that this will require extra effort and emphasis.
section_title: Data on Critically Skilled New Hires Are Limited for Three Facilities because They Generally Do Not Hire Staff Directly into Critical Skills Positions
paragraphs: Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, and Savannah River generally bring in  new staff to supply a pipeline of qualified workers to fill future critical  skills openings, rather than assigning new hires to fill a specific current or  future critical skills position. Because of this, these facilities have little or  no information on the number of new critically skilled workers hired. For  example, Lawrence Livermore is organized as a matrix system in which a  worker’s designation as “critically skilled” changes depending on the work  he or she is doing and the amount of time spent doing that work. Lawrence  Livermore defines a position as a critical skill position, in part, by the  amount of time the worker spends doing Defense Program work, with the  minimum requirement for this designation being 25 percent of the time. At  any given point, there is a core set of Defense Program positions classified  as “critical skills” positions and a set of workers filling those positions.  However, there are also a number of other workers with skills that would  qualify them for a critical skill position, but who are presently doing work  for other missions of the laboratory. While not categorized as “critically  skilled” at that moment, these workers are able to fill critical skill position  openings when they arise and provide depth to the pipeline of qualified  critical skill workers.
The arrangement is somewhat similar at Savannah River, where workers  are hired into the facility’s pipeline of employees who can fill critical skill  positions when needed. In fiscal year 2003, there were 698 Defense  Program workers at the facility, 98 of whom were categorized as critically  skilled. When any of these workers leave, Savannah River fills the opening  with a worker possessing the needed critical skills, but who has been  working in another area of the facility. Los Alamos also depends upon its  internal pipeline to a great extent to fill critical skill needs, as well as  conducting limited hiring of new staff from outside the facility. In fiscal  year 2003, Los Alamos filled 631 critical skill positions. Of these, 550 were  filled via development of internal candidates, with the remaining 81 being  hired from outside this internal pipeline. This distribution is partly  reflected in the data showing that Los Alamos had hired fewer new staff to  fill critical skill positions than had separated from the facility (i.e., 0.79 new  workers hired for every 1 separating).
section_title: Facilities Have Incorporated Key Strategic Workforce Planning Principles to Varying Degrees
paragraphs: While NNSA defines the mission of each facility, the contractor is  responsible for determining what resources are needed to meet that  mission, including the type and number of critically skilled workers  needed. To ensure that they will be in a position to meet their future critical  skill needs, all eight nuclear weapons facilities have incorporated to some  degree into their planning processes the five key principles we have  identified as essential to strategic workforce planning: (1) involving  management and employees in developing and implementing the strategic  workforce plan, (2) determining critical skill needs through workforce gap  analysis, (3) developing workforce strategies to fill gaps, (4) building  needed capabilities to support workforce strategies, and (5) monitoring  and evaluating progress in achieving goals. (See fig. 4.)
All of the 20 stockpile stewardship program managers said that they are  involved with workforce planning to at least a moderate extent at their  facilities. Their involvement encompasses a variety of activities, including  identifying current and future critical skill needs, identifying and recruiting  candidates for employment, and helping to retain current employees  through training and mentoring.
All of the eight NNSA contractors undertake annual reviews of their critical  skill needs, with managers playing a key role in this assessment. For  example, managers at Sandia, as part of the facility’s annual Strategic  Capabilities Assessment, are responsible for identifying workforce skills  required and developing projections of the number and type of staff needed  to meet their mission. These managers are also asked to identify any  increases or decreases in future staffing levels that may result from  programmatic changes and any staff who may require specific training to  ensure they will be prepared to handle upcoming segments of work. The  information gathered from the managers during the Strategic Capabilities  Assessment process is used to develop a facilitywide hiring plan that  ultimately guides Sandia’s recruiting efforts. At Los Alamos, managers  prepare annual workforce reviews that identify present and future  capabilities of the workforce, including critical skills. These reviews  provide an opportunity for managers to identify both strengths and gaps in  the capabilities needed to achieve programmatic missions. Each review  considers, among other items, projections of upcoming retirements,  succession planning, recruitment goals and approaches, plans for replacing  the lost skills, and mentoring and training needs. While these workforce  reviews are comprehensive and help map out workforce needs, they have  not yet been used to develop an overall hiring plan for Los Alamos;  however, human resource managers said that they plan to begin to do this  by the end of fiscal year 2006.
In addition, almost all of the 20 stockpile stewardship managers said that  they participate in recruiting efforts to at least a moderate extent. Program  managers identify the critical skill positions needing to be filled; recruit on  campus; and interview prospective candidates when they visit the  laboratory, production plant, or test site. For example, division managers at  the Kansas City plant identify critical skill needs and process the necessary  request forms to fill those needs. These requests are aggregated by the  human resource department and used to inform the plant’s college  recruiting efforts where applicable. Managers are also involved in campus  recruiting. For example, Y-12 sends line managers, not human resource  personnel, out to campuses to recruit. This helps Y-12 develop a better  relationship with the schools and faculty and provides students with an  opportunity to interact with the managers with whom they may one day be  working, according to the human resource officials. Managers also play a  primary role in interviewing candidates who visit their facility, and many  make the final selections. For example, as part of Los Alamos’ just-in-time  recruiting efforts, prospective candidates visit the laboratory and undergo  a day of interviews with different program managers for multiple positions.  At the end of the visit, the managers decide which of the candidates are  best suited to fill the needs identified and make them offers.
Management involvement with workforce planning also continues after the  candidate is hired, through involvement with training and mentoring  programs that help ensure the facility will be able to retain the critically  skilled employees needed. For example, Pantex offers in-house educational  and other programs to promote continuous professional development and  improvement of the plant’s knowledge base. New personnel at Pantex  receive training to qualify as production technicians from seasoned  employees at the facility, after which these newly trained technicians are  assigned to work under the direction of other experienced personnel who  continue with on-the-job training. In addition, some the facilities place a  premium on the value of mentoring as a means to ensure that needed  knowledge transfer takes place. For example, at Savannah River, once  scientists and engineers reach a certain level of management, they are  required to mentor newer staff in order to be considered for any future  advancement. At Lawrence Livermore, formal and informal mentoring by  experienced personnel, including retirees, is a key part of the learning  process. These mentoring activities include reanalysis of past nuclear  events and comparisons of the effectiveness of different experiments.  According to contractor management, in some cases, these exercises have  been able to produce fresh insights for the entire program. Lawrence  Livermore, as well as some other facilities, relies upon a corps of retired  workers to pass along knowledge to newer staff and to archive their  knowledge through documentation and videotaped interviews to preserve  it for future generations of workers.
subsections: section_title: Facilities Have Determined Critical Skills Needed to Achieve Current and Future Goals through Workforce Gap Analysis
paragraphs: All NNSA facilities have analyzed their workforce, including assessing the  skills of the current employees, identifying the current and future critical  skills needed, and determining if and where any gaps exist. For example,  associate directors at Lawrence Livermore, with the assistance of human  resource staff, annually evaluate employee capabilities, look at what  resources are needed to support existing and anticipated future programs,  perform a gap analysis, and develop projections. In doing this analysis, the  associate directors consider the approximate attrition based on recent  trends, the number of employees the laboratory would like to have as  backup to meet anticipated critical skill needs for the next 3 years,  anticipated future needs based on likely program changes and budget  projections, and the training and mentoring needed for staff to be prepared  to fill anticipated critical skill needs.
Program and human resource managers at Pantex conduct detailed  workforce planning annually to ensure that the needed skills are available  at the right time as workload and demographic changes occur. As part of  this planning process, the managers analyze positions to ensure that they  are properly designated as critical or noncritical. The workforce planning  team at Pantex then works with managers across the organization to  determine the number of critically skilled workers needed in each area to  meet the projected workload over several years. In doing so, the planning  team considers new work and skills that may be required in the future. The  workforce planners obtain data on the skills of the current employee  workforce, review production estimates to determine what workforce  skills will be needed to meet production goals, and assess the degree to  which the skills required by the future workload line up with the current  baseline of critically skilled employees. This analysis is rolled up and  reported in Pantex’s annual “Critical Skills Program Status Report.”  According to human resource managers, this report serves as the basis for  planning for, filling, and maintaining critical skills in the future.
At Y-12, workforce planning can be broken down into two categories based  on the planning horizon—long range or near term. Long-range workforce  planning includes developing a 10-year comprehensive site plan, which is  revised annually and contains a brief discussion of the workforce needs.  Long-range planning also involves developing a 10-year baseline plan,  which breaks down in more detail the information contained in the  comprehensive site plan, including the specific number of workers needed  for each position for the next 10 years. Finally, each suborganization within  Y-12 prepares workforce planning reports that ultimately get rolled up to  form the facilitywide workforce plan. Near term planning involves creating  a workforce plan that includes the production schedule for the next 3  years, including the staff levels needed to meet production goals. These  workforce plans are reviewed three to four times annually to ensure that  adequate resources are available and that workforce capacity is  appropriate to meet near-term workforce needs. Management conducts a  gap analysis on these short-term estimates and determines what skills are  needed. In addition, the Y-12 plant conducted a reorganization process over  the past year that has compared the skills of the current workforce with the  future needs of the facility and moved people around accordingly. Once the  reorganization is complete, the plant will again reassess the workforce and  skills needed to identify any remaining gaps or shortages in workforce  skills.
section_title: Facilities Have Developed and Implemented Strategies to Fill Gaps
paragraphs: As gaps between the skills of the current workforce and the skills needed  to fulfill the mission are identified, each facility has developed strategies to  address these specific gaps. Because each facility is unique in mission,  geographic location, and required skill sets, there is no standard approach  that the facilities can use to address their gaps. Rather, each has developed  strategies that help them identify, recruit, and retain the critically skilled  employees needed at each facility. For example, all three laboratories, as  part of the Laboratory Critical Skills Development Program, have initiated  a series of projects or institutes that provide training and research  experience to precollege, undergraduate, and graduate students in critical  skill fields relevant to the laboratory. One such institute in use by all three  laboratories—the College Cyber Defenders Institute—is focused on  addressing the national shortage of trained people and lack of formal  university programs that prepare students for a career in cyber security.  Other programs are focused more specifically on the needs of a particular  laboratory. For example, the Computer System Administrator Development  Initiative at Los Alamos is designed to recruit students who are enrolled in  area colleges and universities and who want to develop their skills as a  computer systems administrator, a critical resource need at the laboratory.
The production plants have also implemented strategies that directly  address some critical skill needs identified by their workforce gap  analyses. For example, to help meet its need for production technicians  and to ensure that candidates under consideration for this position have  the basic technical skills that will be transferable to various weapons  programs once they are hired, Pantex requires that each candidate  successfully complete a Pantex Job Skills Development Program available  through the local community college. A similar strategy is under way at  Y-12. To help address its need for nuclear engineers, Y-12 has been working  closely with South Carolina State University to develop a nuclear  engineering program that will enable the university to supply Y-12 with  needed graduates in this critical area. Y-12 managers currently serve on the  university’s advisory board and visit the campus several times each year to  work closely with faculty in developing the program.
The Nevada Test Site finds itself in a unique position regarding its  workforce planning activities. The site’s primary mission was to be able to  conduct underground nuclear tests to ensure the reliability of the nuclear  stockpile. However, with the 1992 moratorium on testing and a Presidential  directive that the United States must be able to resume nuclear testing with  as little as 18 months’ notice, the Nevada Test Site is faced with the unique  challenge of maintaining testing skills without being able to conduct actual  nuclear tests. To help maintain the critical skills required for testing, the  site has a workforce of engineers to support the three weapons  laboratories in research and development engineering on advanced  diagnostic tests and in their subcritical tests (tests that do not produce a  nuclear reaction) associated with the Stockpile Stewardship Program and  other special projects. This allows the Nevada Test Site to maintain critical  diagnostic skills related to testing and evaluate the strengths and  weaknesses in testing methods they will need to apply in the event that the  facility begins testing again. In addition to on-the-job training to maintain  diagnostic skills among engineers, the Nevada Test Site is developing a set  of training classes geared toward junior employees. These classes will be  led by the engineers who used to develop diagnostics at the site for  underground testing and will help preserve critical knowledge about  testing from being lost.
section_title: Facilities Have Built the Capabilities to Support Workforce Planning Strategies
paragraphs: Each of the nuclear weapons facilities increased their capabilities to  support the critical skill workforce planning strategies by augmenting  administrative support to implement these strategies, utilizing  technological planning tools, and increasing the use of educational and  financial incentives that help recruit and retain critically skilled staff. For  example, Sandia has established a Nuclear Weapons Strategic Management  Unit to manage the work, products, processes, and people needed to  accomplish the laboratory’s mission. Similarly, the Planning, Scheduling,  and Integration division at Pantex oversees all workforce planning tasks  and has created a detailed flowchart defining how workforce planning  takes place at the facility and at what stages different stakeholders, such as  division managers or human resource officials, become involved to ensure  that the critical skill needs are being met. Alternatively, Los Alamos is  piloting a program in one of its divisions that is designed to enhance the  retention of critically skilled staff. As part of this program, a human  resource manager is deployed full time to a division at the laboratory to  help ensure that the students participating in the internship or co-operative  program are given a high quality experience, increasing the likelihood that  they will want to stay on at the laboratory full time after graduating. This  specialized human resource manager also helps ensure that the student will  be a good fit for the laboratory in the long run and worthy of continued  investment and training in critical skill areas.
Some facilities have also used technology to better link critical skill  planning to hiring activity. For example, Sandia developed a Web-based  application called the HR Graphalyzer that enables the human resource  personnel to analyze human resource data graphically. One component of  this application, the Enhanced Staff Planning Tool, helps the divisions  design a hiring program that more accurately represents facility needs,  factoring in the specific organization’s current headcount, current age and  years of service distribution, and history of internal employee movement.  The application is able to project separations (both retirement and  nonretirement) on the basis of historical trends using the organization’s age  and years of service distributions. It also equalizes hiring over 2 years in  order to avoid swings in recruiting and hiring efforts from year to year. One  of the main benefits of this system is that it helps the human resource  department to more accurately identify the number of workers with  specific skills who are needed. In addition, some facilities use human  resource information databases to help them better manage the flow of the  critical skills workforce. For example, Pantex uses a database that  maintains information on individual skills of the current staff and whether  the individual currently fills a critical skill position. This database is  updated annually and critical skill positions are reviewed in light of the  current mission and workload, helping the facility ensure that it is meeting  those workforce and mission needs. Contractors have also used technology  to assist with their recruiting efforts. For example, Kansas City  implemented a Web-based resume-sourcing tool that allows the facility to  post detailed job descriptions of open positions on the Internet, increasing  exposure to prospective candidates.
Some facilities have offered incentives to help recruit and retain critically  skilled staff, including offering educational programs and providing  workplace flexibilities. For example, Kansas City’s Technical Fellowship  Program is an internal program designed to train and develop associates  for future critical skill positions. The facility has also identified a number of  workplace flexibilities that have helped it remain competitive in attracting  new staff, including signing bonuses, retention bonuses, and employee  referral fees. Furthermore, the Kansas City plant has provided housing  stipends to student interns who were relocating to the Kansas City area.  The Y-12 facility has adopted similar strategies, focusing on employee  development through companywide training, education, and job rotation  programs that help the new hire get wider exposure and training to  different aspects of the facility. Y-12 also recently modified its relocation  policy and now provides new hires with an up-front sum of money to help  with moving expenses. The intent of this change was to help the facility  stay competitive with other industries in the area. Similarly, Lawrence  Livermore has tried to stay abreast of market trends and has offered  incentives to successfully compete for employees including hiring bonuses,  employee referral bonuses, relocation packages, and benefits and  compensation packages. Furthermore, it has instituted work-life programs  such as flexible schedules, expanded day care facilities, and other on-site  services, including dry cleaning and a fitness center, to keep Lawrence  Livermore an appealing place to work.
section_title: NNSA Has Monitored and Evaluated Contractor Progress in Meeting Critical Skills Workforce Needs
paragraphs: NNSA has continually monitored and evaluated contractor progress  through annual, semi-annual, and monthly reviews. As part of their annual  Performance Evaluation Plans in fiscal year 2004, each NNSA facility was  responsible for meeting one or more performance measures related to  critical skills management. Before the start of each new fiscal year, NNSA  and the contractor negotiate these plans, which establish the expectations  for the coming fiscal year and serve as the basis for evaluating how well the  contractor has met the goals of the contract. At the end of the fiscal year,  NNSA prepares a Performance Evaluation Review, evaluating the  contractor’s performance on the objectives set out in the Performance  Evaluation Plan. This final overall assessment of how well the performance  evaluation measures were met, including those dealing with the critical  skill needs at the facility, provides the basis for any financial awards given  to the contractor. (See app. II for a summary of the performance measures  related to critical skills for each facility.)
Semiannually, each facility reports to NNSA headquarters on a set of  predefined metrics related to recruiting and retention. Among the metrics  used to assess performance are the number of job offers and acceptances  for critical skills positions, age statistics for the current critical skills  population, and percentage of critical skill positions vacant. Retention  indicators include attrition rates of critical skill employees as compared  with other Defense Program employees and total number of departures of  critical skills employees. According to NNSA Office of Defense Program  officials, two of these performance metrics—average age of the critical  skills workforce and the percentage of critical skill vacancies—are good  indicators of the overall success of the contractors in recruiting,  developing, and retaining critical skills employees.
On a monthly or quarterly basis, the contractors report to NNSA  representatives metrics related to meeting critical skill needs. NNSA site  managers conduct monthly reviews with the contractor managers to check  progress on meeting the performance objectives that have been laid out for  the contractors and briefly discuss the status of critical skill positions.  During these meetings, the contractors are also free to discuss any other  issues adversely affecting their ability to reach their critical skills goals,  such as concerns about clearance delays or salary competitiveness. While  many of these metrics tracked each month may be based on the actual  performance measures established under the contract, others may be  tracked because of their close connection to maintaining a critically skilled  workforce. For example, at Y-12, reports are issued monthly on an  established set of performance metrics for hiring, retention, and turnover,  but also for college recruiting plans, career fair activities, and information  regarding involuntary reductions-in-force at other facilities and how these  reductions affect hiring at Y-12.
In addition to monitoring contractors’ overall progress in meeting critical  skill performance measures, some facilities also track progress on specific  programs designed to help recruit and retain critically skilled workers. For  example, all the proposals for projects initiated through the Laboratory  Critical Skills Development Program include milestones, goals, objectives,  success measures, and evaluation criteria. Follow-on funding for these  projects is dependent on how well these criteria are being met. In addition,  NNSA monitors how well money spent as part of the Plant Directed  Research and Development program is helping retain critically skilled staff  at production plants.
section_title: Most Managers Believe Their Current Workforce Is Sufficient to Fulfill Their Facility’s Mission
paragraphs: Of the 20 stockpile stewardship program managers we interviewed at the  eight NNSA facilities, 15 believe that their critically skilled workforce is  currently sufficient to fulfill their facility’s mission. Although this belief was  widely held, the factors these managers cited as helping their facility  achieve a sufficient critical skills workforce varied. Among the factors  most commonly cited were the strength of the recruiting programs, the  quality of work performed at the facility, and their facility’s commitment to  training and development. For example, of the managers who believe their  critically skilled workforce is currently sufficient, some commented that  the recruiting programs are effective in attracting highly qualified new and  experienced workers to their facilities. They also mentioned that their  facility performs work that is technically challenging, interesting, and of  national importance, making it an appealing place to work. These managers  also said that their facilities have made a commitment to training and  development, ensuring the transfer of knowledge from experienced  employees to new workers and allowing many staff to be trained in areas of  critical importance to the mission. Some of the five managers who felt the  current critical skills workforce was insufficient to meet their facilities’  missions expressed concern that the current pool of qualified, technically  trained candidates is inadequate to meet the facility’s specific needs. At  some sites, the candidates with specific skills and training are simply not  readily available in the market and managers commented that there are few  students entering professions applicable to certain critical skill needs.
Stockpile stewardship managers we interviewed were less confident  overall in their facility’s ability to fulfill its future critical skills needs;  however, the majority still felt the critical skills workforce would be  sufficient over the next 10 years to fulfill the facility’s mission. Twelve of  the 20 program managers we spoke with believe their critical skills  workforce would be sufficient in the future, 3 believe it will be insufficient,  while 5 were unsure. The 12 managers who felt their critical skills  workforce would be sufficient over the next 10 years cited a number of  contributing factors, including the exciting mission of the facility, the  strength of the recruiting programs, and a focus on training and developing  employees. In addition, a number of these managers also mentioned the  facility’s workforce planning efforts as essential. For example, one  manager said her facility’s efforts enabled the managers to identify,  understand, and plan for future critical skill needs.
Of the three managers who felt that the critical skills workforce will be  insufficient to fulfill the mission over the next 10 years, two mentioned  concerns about the budget and the likelihood that a substantial number of  critically skilled workers would retire in the next 10 years. These managers  said that budget shortfalls would make workforce planning difficult.  Budget limitations can affect the number of staff who can be employed at  any one time, limiting the amount of knowledge transfer that can occur  between experienced staff and those new to the facility, both of whom  might be holding the same position while this training and development  takes place. In addition, because it can take as long as 5 years for new staff  members to receive clearances and be fully trained on the critical elements  of their jobs, the impending retirements could influence the transfer of  critical knowledge if these experienced workers retire before new staff are  brought in and trained in these skills. The five remaining managers  expressed uncertainty about whether their facility would be able to  maintain the critical skills workforce needed in the future. Most expressed  guarded optimism that their facility would be able to find the needed  skilled workers; however, they mentioned a number of factors that could  still hamper their ability to do so. In addition to the budget uncertainty and  impending retirements mentioned by other managers with concerns about  future workforce preparedness, some of these managers cited uncertainty  about their facility’s future mission and a shrinking pool of qualified  candidates to fill future openings. One manager commented that shifts in  the mission, such as a reduction of laboratory-directed research and  development being done, could limit the amount of exciting work being  performed at the facilities, making employment there less appealing to  potential candidates and, consequently, planning for future skill needs  more difficult. The five managers also expressed concern about the  availability of technically trained workers to fill future critical skills  positions. According to one manager, competition remains high for certain  graduates with particular training and educational background and  whether this competition will continue in the future is uncertain.
section_title: NNSA Contractors and Organizations with Comparable Workforces Face Ongoing Challenges but Have Developed Strategies to Mitigate Most of Them
paragraphs: NNSA contractors face ongoing challenges in recruiting and retaining a  critically skilled workforce and are using a number of strategies to mitigate  them. Additionally, organizations with comparable workforces are facing  similar challenges and are using similar strategies to mitigate those  challenges. Beyond their challenges, NNSA contractors face future  uncertainties that could affect their ability to recruit and retain a critically  skilled workforce in the years ahead.
subsections: section_title: NNSA Contractors Have Developed, and Actively Share, Strategies to Mitigate Ongoing Challenges
paragraphs: NNSA contractors most commonly cited four challenges to recruiting and  retaining a critically skilled workforce: the amount of time it takes to  obtain security clearances, a declining pool of potential employees, the  undesirability of certain facilities because of the area’s high cost of living,  and the undesirability of certain facilities because they are in locations that  many potential new hires consider unattractive. Table 3 shows the facilities  that cited each of the four challenges and provides sample strategies that  some NNSA contractors are using to mitigate them.
Regarding the time it takes to obtain security clearances, most of NNSA’s  contractors said Q-level security clearances—the level needed for most  critical skills positions—have been taking from 1 to 2 years to process,  delaying new employees’ ability to obtain on-the-job training for the  classified work for which they were hired. To obtain new employee  clearances, contractors submit background paperwork to the Albuquerque Service Center for processing. The Service Center uses the Office of  Personnel Management (OPM) to conduct background investigations. The  Service Center reviews the investigation files provided by OPM, conducts  follow-up interviews when necessary, and makes the final decisions on  clearances. The manager of NNSA’s Personnel Security Division at the  Albuquerque Service Center, who has responsibility for security clearance  issues, said that Q-level clearances have been taking, on average, just under  1 year; however, he also acknowledged that in some cases these clearances  are taking as long as 2 years to complete. Because an employee without a  clearance cannot take part in classified work, the extended clearance  reviews have delayed the beginning of the employees’ on-the-job classified  critical skills training needed to be designated as fully critically skilled.  Without this training, employees cannot begin doing the work for which  they were hired. According to contractor human resource officials and  stockpile stewardship managers, employees can become frustrated and  discouraged in the face of these delays.
While NNSA contractors are not able to directly address the time it takes to  process security clearances because responsibility for the investigation and  final determination lies elsewhere, they have developed strategies to  mitigate the effects of these delays. Several contractors stated that they try  to reduce the negative effects of waiting for clearances by providing new  employees with meaningful, unclassified work. For example, Y-12 offers a  program in which new employees waiting for a clearance can rotate  through areas of the plant that do not require a clearance, learning about  different departments that relate to the job they were hired to perform. The  Savannah River plant plans to place new employees waiting for a security  clearance in its soon-to-be-completed hydrogen technology laboratory  being developed at a nearby site. Although the laboratory was not built  specifically to address clearance delays, working there will benefit staff  waiting for clearances by (1) providing an avenue for them to gain  experience in areas relevant to the work they will perform once the  clearance is obtained and (2) allowing them to work on cutting-edge  projects in an unclassified setting. This opportunity should help reduce  some of the frustration newly hired employees and the facility management  associate with clearance delays. Some facilities have also taken advantage  of downsizing at such DOE facilities as Rocky Flats. By hiring critically  skilled employees who have Q-level clearances, the facilities can both  avoid the delays associated with the security clearance process and retain  critical skills already within the nuclear weapons complex. While hiring  these experienced NNSA contractor employees has been useful, their  numbers will decrease when Rocky Flats is closed and the downsizing of  other NNSA facilities is completed.
In addition to the amount of time it takes to obtain security clearances,  most of NNSA’s contractors also face the ongoing challenge of recruiting  from a declining pool of technically skilled potential employees. First,  contractors said this pool has shrunk because fewer students with U.S.  citizenship are seeking advanced degrees or technical training in areas  such as science and engineering. Because most critical skill positions  require a Q-level clearance and U.S. citizenship is a primary consideration  for such a clearance, NNSA contractors must locate U.S. citizens with the  needed critical skills. Second, some contractors said they face a lack of  qualified technicians in specific skill areas. For example, Pantex mentioned  having difficulty finding enough qualified production technicians, and Los  Alamos cited difficulties in finding skilled technicians who have nuclear  weapons manufacturing experience or who are trained in using  radiological gloveboxes—sealed containers that feature built-in gloves for  handling radiological material.
To address the declining pool of technically skilled workers, most of the  facilities have developed programs to attract U.S. citizen students earlier in  their high school and undergraduate years and encourage them to pursue  careers in technical fields. For example, under the Laboratory Critical  Skills Development Program, the three weapons laboratories have  established programs involving local high schools and universities that  encourage students to pursue college and advanced degrees in technical  fields and provide a pipeline of workers for future job opportunities at the  laboratory. Additionally, some contractors have focused on improving their  relationships with universities as a way to address the challenge of a  declining pool. Sandia, for example, established its Campus Executive  Program to develop a more coordinated and comprehensive recruiting  effort at targeted universities. The program’s recruiting teams, composed of  researchers, recruiters, program alumni, and affiliated faculty, use existing  relationships at colleges and universities to attract technically trained U.S.  citizens. Contractors have also found a source of critically skilled  employees in other NNSA programs operating at the same site. For  example, the Defense Program division of Savannah River has been able to  pick up critically skilled employees from the facility’s Environmental  Management segment as it is being shut down. The advantage of hiring  these staff is that they are already trained in critical skill areas relevant to  Defense Program work and have their security clearances, which allows  them to hit the ground running. Finally, some contractors have developed  their own training programs to meet their facilities’ specific skills needs as  a way of mitigating the shortage of qualified technicians in needed skill  areas. For example, Pantex established its Job Skills Development Program  in partnership with Amarillo Community College and the Texas Workforce  Center to help meet the facility’s need for production technicians. The  program trains and qualifies a local workforce of production technicians  from which Pantex can recruit potential employees. Like Pantex, Los  Alamos has developed a program to address one of its specific needs. The  Glovebox Technician Pipeline Program develops college-educated  technicians with basic skills in radiological glovebox technology. Los  Alamos began the program in 2003 and expects it to produce a small pool of  technically skilled graduates available for full-time employment.
The third ongoing challenge cited by some NNSA contractors is that their  location is geographically undesirable because of the high cost of living.  Some contractors stated that the high cost of living in the area where their  facility is located makes recruitment and retention of critically skilled  employees more difficult. This was the case with Lawrence Livermore,  which is located in the San Francisco Bay area. To address cost of living  issues, contractors have used such employee incentives as offering signing  and relocation bonuses to assist with relocation expenses. Some  contractors have also offered potential employees support by helping them  find housing or learn about the community.
The fourth ongoing challenge cited by NNSA contractors is that their  location hinders recruiting efforts because it is perceived as being an  unattractive area to live in or as being remote. For example, contractor  officials at the Pantex plant in Amarillo, Texas, report that they have  trouble recruiting and retaining critically skilled workers. Pantex officials  indicated that some workers are attracted to larger urban environments. To  address concerns about locations that may be perceived as being  unattractive, some facilities have also offered signing and relocation  bonuses. Other facilities focus on recruiting individuals who are from the  local area. For example, Y-12 targets universities in the surrounding  geographic area because candidates are more likely to accept positions  near where they live or attend school. Similarly, Pantex focuses on  universities in west Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico to recruit  engineering candidates.
As NNSA contractors have developed strategies to mitigate recruiting and  retention challenges, they have used a variety of methods to share those  strategies among themselves. One method for sharing information is to use  the human resource specialists at the Albuquerque Service Center as a  conduit. NNSA recently consolidated most of its contractor human  resource staff, who were previously located at each of the NNSA facilities,  in a central location at the Albuquerque Service Center. Six of the eight  nuclear weapons complex facilities currently have human resource  specialists located at the service center. Because the specialists are now  centrally located, they are able to obtain a broader perspective by taking  advantage of each others’ knowledge about the activities of different  contractors. For example, Los Alamos adopted a tool from Lawrence  Livermore—a “deliverables matrix”— that is used to help track the reports  it submits periodically to NNSA on a number of subjects, including critical  skill management. The Los Alamos contractor learned of this tool from its  human resource specialist, who learned of it from his Lawrence Livermore  counterpart at the service center.
In addition to using the service center as a conduit for sharing strategies,  NNSA contractors are using a variety of other avenues. For example,  contractors exchange ideas at periodic meetings such as the annual  compensation managers meeting and DOE’s annual human resource  conference, which features sessions dedicated to discussing critical skill  recruitment and retention and sharing best practices. Moreover, NNSA’s  plants participate in quarterly meetings, which allow them to discuss  lessons learned in recruiting and retaining critically skilled employees.  Partnerships among the facilities also promote strategy sharing. For  example, Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore coordinate their recruiting  efforts under the Recruitment Coordination Cost Efficiency Initiative. In  addition, the four production plants have developed a Senior Scientist  Network for sharing information on nuclear weapons complex recruitment  and retention problems and strategies. Additionally, Savannah River and  Los Alamos engage in an employee exchange program that allows them to  temporarily exchange staff with specific knowledge about tritium, a  radioactive isotope of hydrogen that both facilities work with.
section_title: Organizations with Comparable Workforces Face Similar Challenges and Have Implemented Similar Strategies
paragraphs: Human resource officials from organizations with comparable workforces  identified challenges similar to those faced by NNSA contractors in  recruiting and retaining a critically skilled workforce. For example, most  human resource officials from these organizations cited the amount of time  it takes newly hired staff to obtain security clearances as being a challenge.  These officials said that security clearances for new employees have been  taking from 11 to 18 months, but they believe they have been able to lessen  the impact of these delays by, for example, providing new employees with  meaningful, nonclassified work to do while awaiting clearances.  Additionally, one of these organizations—the Applied Physics  Laboratory—addresses the problems associated with clearance delays by  seeking staff who already have clearances. Much as NNSA seeks already  cleared and trained individuals from nuclear weapons complex facilities  that are closing or downsizing, the Applied Physics Laboratory targets Web  sites and job fairs that specialize in attracting individuals who already have  security clearances.
Most human resource officials from organizations with comparable  workforces also cited the declining pool of technically skilled workers as a  challenge. Like NNSA, these organizations said they have a smaller group  of candidates from which to recruit because there are fewer technically  trained U.S. citizens available in the marketplace and fewer U.S. citizens  working toward graduate degrees in engineering and science. To mitigate  this challenge, most of these organizations have developed programs, such  as internships, to encourage students to pursue careers in science and  engineering. Some of these programs are designed to expose high school  students to the opportunities that exist in these technical fields, while  others are intended to encourage college students to pursue graduate  degrees in these areas. In one such program, offered by the Naval Research  Laboratory, students spend 8 weeks working full-time with scientists and  engineers actively engaging in research and planning, participating in  special program seminars, and writing and presenting a final research  paper. Similarly, the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory offers a program that  allows high school students to shadow its employees.
Finally, human resource managers at two organizations with comparable  workforces cited the challenge of recruiting staff to work in an area that  has a high cost of living, similar to the difficulty expressed by NNSA  contractors with staffing facilities in the San Francisco Bay area. Some  organizations with comparable workforces have implemented strategies  similar to those used by NNSA contractors to mitigate this challenge as  well. For example, Exelon offers signing bonuses to help offset the cost of  relocation, and the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory offers its new  employees support in finding a neighborhood in which to live and helps  employees’ spouses find work.
section_title: Future Uncertainties Could Affect NNSA’s Ability to Maintain a Critically Skilled Workforce
paragraphs: In addition to facing ongoing challenges, NNSA contractors face a number  of uncertainties the outcomes of which could affect their ability to maintain  a critically skilled workforce into the future. These outcomes hinge on  events and decisions over which NNSA contractors generally have little  control. The contractors are therefore less able to develop strategies for  addressing these uncertainties. For example, some NNSA contractors  believe that they will face increased competition for science and  engineering candidates, as well as other critically skilled employees, if the  job market improves, since these workers will have more employment  choices. Such increased competition would hinder the contractors’ ability  to recruit and retain the critically skilled workforce needed to fulfill the  facility’s mission, according to some contractors. Some of the programs  designed to provide early exposure of college students to NNSA facilities  through, for example, the Laboratory Critical Skills Development Program,  will help to increase the chance that future candidates will be aware of and  consider employment opportunities within the nuclear weapons complex.
Some NNSA contractors also stated that their ability to maintain their  critically skilled workforce into the future could be affected by budget and  funding limitations, which could hinder workforce planning. These  contractors said that the budget process, specifically the timing of the  budget cycle and the uncertainty of budget reauthorizations, makes it  difficult to bring in new job candidates when they are needed. The Nevada  Test Site, for example, said budget shortfalls in its Experimentation  Support division resulted in the termination of seven or eight employees in  2003, making it difficult for the division to maintain the workforce needed.  The contractors stated that budget uncertainty also hinders their ability to  bring on new staff in time to be trained by, and gather essential knowledge  from, experienced staff who are near retirement. Some facilities have  implemented knowledge retention initiatives designed to archive weapons  data by, among other means, interviewing experienced weapons subject  matter experts, to mitigate the effects of retirement timing.
In addition, some NNSA contractors expressed concern about the number  of their employees who are, or will be soon eligible, for retirement. If a  large number of these employees chose to retire at one time, the facilities  may not be able to ensure that critical knowledge is passed along to the  newest generation of nuclear weapons workers. In general, the contractors  felt that they were in a position to overcome the challenge imposed by  anticipated future retirements, but some indicated that the uncertain  outcome of future events could alter the impact of these retirements.  According to contractor human resource officials, one issue that could  influence the pace of future retirements is the contract rebidding process  currently underway at Los Alamos. DOE announced that it will place the  Los Alamos contract up for bid in 2005 and the Lawrence Livermore  contracts up for bid some time after September 30, 2007, for the first time  since their establishment. The current contractor for both of these facilities  is the University of California. One concern about rebidding the contract is  that it could be awarded to a new contractor that may provide a less  attractive pension benefit package or may not bring some of the education  advantages workers receive as employees of the University of California.  These concerns could potentially result in multiple early retirements and  affect a facility’s ability to perform its mission if the contract changes  hands. NNSA may have mitigated some of these concerns when it issued an  acquisition plan in September 2004 that required potential bidders on the  contract to offer current workers at Los Alamos the same level of pension  benefits as the current contractor. Furthermore, a different contractor may  want to reassess the recruiting and retention strategies that will be used,  such as the university recruiting program or fellowships offered, to ensure  that they reflect any affiliations the new contractor may have. This could  impact the contractor’s access to particular skill sets. Until this process is  completed, it will be difficult to determine how Los Alamos’s critical skills  capabilities are affected or whether this same issue will arise with future  contract rebids.
Finally, some NNSA contractors expressed concern that unexpected  mission changes could affect their ability to recruit and retain individuals  with needed critical skills. These facilities stated that unexpected changes  in their long-term missions could make it difficult to plan for future skill  needs and prevent them from obtaining the right mix of critical skills  during recruiting. For example, one manager said it was critical for his  facility to be responsive to programmatic changes, but to maintain that  responsiveness they must have a mix of critically skilled workers who meet  the needs of the current mission, as well as the needs required by a shift in  the mission. A manager at another facility said he finds it difficult to plan  for future skill needs because the NNSA mission for his facility is not stable  in the short term. Furthermore, in 2001, President Bush announced his  intent to significantly reduce the nation’s total operationally deployed  nuclear weapons force by 2012. This could have ramifications in terms of  the types and numbers of critically skilled workers required to meet this  reduction and to ensure the safety and reliability of the remaining weapons  in the stockpile. NNSA is guarding against the effects of this mission shift  by continuing an advanced concepts program to enable scientists and  engineers at the nuclear weapons laboratories to retain critical skills and to  provide the United States with means to respond to new, unexpected, or  emerging threats in a timely manner.
section_title: Conclusion
paragraphs: While NNSA contractors have been generally effective in recruiting and  retaining the critically skilled workforce needed currently, are well poised  to maintain the critically skilled workforce that will be needed in the near  future, and have successfully mitigated many of the challenges they have  already faced, the future will almost certainly bring additional challenges  and uncertainties the contractors will need to continue to stay aware of and  address. Although some of these challenges may be outside the  contractors’ immediate control—such as changes in economic conditions  or shifts in NNSA’s mission—the test that lies ahead for these contractors  will be in identifying these new challenges early and developing strategies  to mitigate them wherever possible. In order for the nuclear weapons  facilities to be able to locate and employ the critically skilled workforce  needed to ensure the safety and reliability of the stockpile, NNSA and its  contractors will need to remain vigilant and focused in their recruiting and  retention efforts, as well as anticipate, and appropriately plan for, future  critical skill needs and shortages.
section_title: Agency Comments
paragraphs: We provided NNSA with a draft of this report for its review and comment.  In oral comments, NNSA agreed with the report.
We are sending copies of this report to the Secretary of Energy; the  Director, Office of Management and Budget; and other interested parties.  We will also make copies available to others upon request. In addition, the  report will be available at no charge on the GAO Web site at  http://www.gao.gov.
If you or your staffs have any questions, please call me at (202) 512-3841.  Key contributors to this report are listed in appendix III.
section_title: Scope and Methodology
paragraphs: As part of our overall approach to examine the National Nuclear Security  Administration (NNSA) contractors’ ability to recruit and retain the  critically skilled workforce needed to maintain the safety and reliability of  the nuclear weapons stockpile, we visited six of the eight nuclear weapons  complex facilities—Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos  National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, the Kansas City Plant,  the Pantex Plant, and the Y-12 Plant. The remaining two sites—the  Savannah River Site and the Nevada Test Site—have the smallest number  of critically skilled workers and we conducted extensive telephone  interviews with human resource and workforce, planning managers at  these facilities. We also sent each facility a standard set of interview  questions and received responses from each facility.
As part of our review of the contractors’ efforts, we interviewed a  nonprobability sample of 20 managers from all eight facilities. We  requested names of at least two managers in the Stockpile Stewardship  Program from the human resource managers at each facility. We then  conducted structured interviews with these managers, either in person or  by telephone. In particular, we discussed the managers’ involvement in  recruiting, retaining, and planning for workforce needs at the facility. We  also gained their perspective on the ongoing recruiting and retentions  challenges their facilities face and whether they felt their facility would be  able to maintain the critically skilled workforce needed to fulfill their  mission.
To describe the approaches NNSA contractors are using to recruit and  retain a critically skilled workforce, we spoke with human resource  managers at each of the eight NNSA nuclear weapons complex facilities.  Specifically, we discussed the approaches the facilities use to recruit and  retain a critically skilled workforce and the ways in which NNSA has  supported the contractors’ efforts. We also reviewed documentation of the  recruitment and retention approaches used at each facility, including  human resource managers’ responses to our written request for specific  information. In addition, we interviewed NNSA officials at headquarters,  the site offices for most of the facilities, and the NNSA Service Center in  Albuquerque, New Mexico. We discussed with these officials the ways in  which they have supported contractors’ efforts to recruit and retain their  critically skilled workforce. To assess the similarities of approaches used  by organizations with comparable workforces, we spoke with human  resource representatives from six research and advanced technology  organizations with comparable workforces to determine the extent to  which these industries use recruiting and retention approaches similar to  those used by NNSA. These organizations are as follows:  Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland: a division of the Johns  Hopkins University, operates specialized research and test facilities;  Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts: an  independent laboratory that contracts with a number of government  agencies;   Exelon Corporation headquartered in Chicago, Illinois: an energy   Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California: operated by the  California Institute of Technology for the National Aeronautics and  Space Administration;   Lockheed Martin Corporation headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland: a  major federal government contractor; and  Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C.: operated by the Navy.
We also spoke with two industry associations representing manufacturing  and nuclear materials industries—the National Association of  Manufacturing and Institute of Nuclear Materials Management. We selected  these eight organizations based on the following criteria: their selection by  the Chiles Commission as benchmarking organizations; their geographic  dispersal; and their representation of different high technology, laboratory,  or manufacturing industry segments. We reviewed the Chiles Commission  report and determined it was methodologically sound enough for the  purposes of this report.
To assess the effectiveness of the approaches used to recruit and retain  critically skilled workers, we collected a variety of workforce data from  each facility, including total numbers of Defense Program and critically  skilled workers and average ages of these workers broken out by job  classification, hiring and attrition trends, average retirement ages, and  forecasted needs for critically skilled workers. To assess the reliability of  these data, we reviewed relevant documentation, interviewed cognizant  contractor officials, and obtained reponses from key database officials to a  series of data reliability questions covering issues such as data entry,  access, quality control procedures, and the accuracy and completeness of  the data. Follow-up questions were added whenever necessary. We  determined that the data were sufficiently reliable for the purposes of this  report. In addition, we obtained documentation of each facility’s workforce  planning process and evaluated that process using our five principles of  strategic workforce planning. These five principles are (1) involving  management and employees in developing and implementing the strategic  workforce plan, (2) determining critical skills needs through workforce gap  analysis, (3) developing workforce strategies to fill gaps, (4) building  needed capabilities to support workforce strategies, and (5) monitoring  and evaluating progress in achieving goals. We also interviewed human  resource managers at each facility to determine the kinds of recruiting and  retention strategies they have implemented to support their workforce  planning processes. To determine the extent to which NNSA monitors and  evaluates contractor progress we interviewed NNSA site officials  responsible for performance management, as well as each facility’s human  resource managers. Finally, we analyzed the responses of stockpile  stewardship managers to our structured interview to determine whether  the managers believe their facility had and could maintain the critically  skilled workforce needed to fulfill their mission, the reasons for these  beliefs, and the extent to which the managers are involved in the workforce  planning process.
Regarding the ongoing challenges that NNSA contractors face in recruiting  and retaining a critically skilled workforce, we spoke with human resource,  workforce planning, and stockpile stewardship program managers.  Specifically, we discussed ongoing recruitment and retention challenges,  strategies used to mitigate those challenges, and future uncertainties that  may affect the facilities’ abilities to recruit and retain the critically skilled  workers needed. To further identify any remaining challenges and  uncertainties, we reviewed the contractors’ responses to our written  questions. To assess the extent to which the remaining challenges, and the  strategies used to mitigate these challenges, are similar to those of  organizations with comparable workforces, we spoke with human resource  representatives from the six research and advanced technology  organizations with comparable workforces and the two industry  associations.
We conducted our work from February 2004 through January 2005 in  accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
section_title: Critical Skills Performance Measures in NNSA Facilities’ Performance Evaluation Plans for Fiscal Year 2004
paragraphs: Utilize University of California strengths to recruit, retain, and develop the workforce basis  Recruit and retain a skilled and diverse workforce that meets the laboratories’ long-range core  and critical skills requirements by implementing a human resource strategy that leverages  student programs and University of California relationships.
Sandia management focuses on renewal and retainment of its workforce and the transfer of  knowledge to ensure the future of the Nuclear Weapons Complex such that it can continue to  perform its mission for the nation in the future years.  Sandia implements a comprehensive program for workforce planning and diversity that includes  recruitment, training, and knowledge transfer necessary to meet the long-range core and critical  skills requirements.
Demonstrate effective workforce planning to assure the current and future workforce critical skills,  including technical, program/project managers and administrative personnel, are adequate to  meet future workforce skills needs and are consistent with contract performance.
Develop and exercise critical skills, capabilities, and personnel.  Fill planned critical skill vacancies calculated from the latest biannual report “Maintenance of  Nuclear Weapons Expertise Data for NNSA Performance Metrics.”
Maintain planned staffing in critical skill personnel calculated from the latest biannual report  “Maintenance of Nuclear Weapons Expertise Data for NNSA Performance Metrics.”
Complete required training and qualification of critical skill personnel with appropriate clearance  and/or PAP.
Focus Area – Technical Capability  Knowledge preservation  Engineering qualifications  Filled critical skill positions BWXT Y-12 will take measures to ensure that the critical skills needed to support the Y-12  workload are available and fully trained or in a training program to ensure ability to perform duties  as required in the future.  The critical skills database is complete and updated on a quarterly basis to consistently provide  accurate numbers of vacant critical skills positions.
Programs are in place to continually replenish the pipeline of new critical skills employees and  ensure the appropriate development programs are available to allow the new employees to  perform critical duties.
Demonstrate improvement in the following emphasis areas selected from the Project  Management Body of Knowledge:  Improve Critical Skills Management: Identify critical skills of project managers and ensure they  possess the requisite skills to successfully perform defined tasks.
section_title: GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments
subsections: section_title: GAO Contacts
section_title: Acknowledgments
paragraphs: In addition to those named above, Elizabeth Erdmann, Robert Sanchez, and  Corrie Burtch made key contributions to this report. Also contributing to  this report were Nancy Crothers, Judy Pagano, and Katherine Raheb.