Foreign Languages: Workforce Planning Could Help Address Staffing and Proficiency Shortfalls
Released: 2002-03-12T00:00:00

Letter

Background

Although more than 70 federal agencies have foreign language needs, some of the largest programs are concentrated in the Army, the State Department, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) records indicate that the government employs just under a thousand translators and interpreters in the job series reserved for this group. The government also employs tens of thousands of individuals who use foreign language skills in positions such as FBI special agents and legal attachés, State Department Foreign Service officers, and Department of Commerce Foreign Commercial Service (FCS) officers. For the four agencies we reviewed, a total of nearly 20,000 staff are employed in positions that require some foreign language proficiency.

Agency management of these resources takes place against the backdrop of an emerging federal issue—strategic human capital management. The foreign language staffing and proficiency shortfalls we discuss in our report can be seen as part of a broader pattern of human capital weaknesses and poor workforce planning that has impacted the operations of agencies across the federal government. In fact, GAO recently designated human capital management as a governmentwide high-risk area on the basis of specific problem areas identified in prior GAO reports.For example, GAO previously testified that the Department of Defense faces looming shortages of intelligence analysts, computer programmers, and pilots. In a subsequent report on trends in federal employee retirements, we found that relatively large numbers of individuals in key math and science fields will be eligible to retire by the end of fiscal year 2006: These include physics (47 percent); chemistry (42 percent); computer specialists (30 percent); and electronics and electrical engineering (27 percent and 28 percent, respectively).

In response to these risks, the administration, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), OPM, and GAO have issued guidance on how agencies can begin the process of strategically managing their staffing resources. For example, OPM has developed a five-step workforce planning model that outlines the basic tenets of effective workforce planning. The president and OMB’s guidance stresses that agencies should seek to address shortages of skills by conducting thorough workforce analyses, by using existing personnel flexibilities available to federal agencies, and by identifying additional authorities or flexibilities they might need to remove current obstacles and barriers to effective workforce management. GAO guidance emphasizes the use of a self-assessment checklist for better aligning human capital with strategic planning and core business practices.

Agencies Reported Varied Foreign Language Shortages

Officials in the four agencies we reviewed reported varied types and degrees of foreign language shortages depending on the agency, job position, language, and skill level. They noted shortages of translators and interpreters and people with skills in specific languages, as well as a shortfall in proficiency level among people who use foreign language skills in their jobs. The Army’s greatest foreign language needs were for translators and interpreters, cryptologic linguists, and human intelligence collectors. The State Department has not filled all of its positions requiring foreign language skills. And, although the Foreign Commercial Service has relatively few positions that require foreign language proficiency, it had significant shortfalls in personnel with skills in six critical languages. While the FBI does not have a set number of positions for its special agent linguists, these agents must have some level of foreign language proficiency that they can use in conducting investigations. (When identified by language, FBI staffing and proficiency data are classified and are discussed in the classified report mentioned earlier.)

While our report provides detailed staffing and proficiency shortfall data for four agencies, I would like to use the data we obtained for the U.S. Army to illustrate the nature and extent of some of these shortfalls.

The Army provided us data on translator and interpreter positions for six languages it considers critical: Arabic, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Persian- Farsi, Russian, and Spanish (our analysis excluded Spanish because the Army has a surplus of Spanish language translators and interpreters). As shown in table 1, the Army had authorization for 329 translator and interpreter positions for these five languages in fiscal year 2001 but only filled 183 of them, leaving a shortfall of 146 (44 percent).

In addition to its needs for translators and interpreters, the Army also has a need for staff with applied language skills. We obtained detailed information on two key job series involving military intelligence— cryptologic linguists and human intelligence collectors. As shown in table 2, the Army had a shortfall of cryptologic linguists in two of the six foreign languages it viewed as most critical—Korean and Mandarin Chinese. Overall, there were 142 unfilled positions, which amounted to a 25 percent shortfall in cryptologic linguists in these two languages.

The Army also had a shortfall of human intelligence collectors in five of the six foreign languages it viewed as most critical in this area—Arabic, Russian, Spanish, Korean, and Mandarin Chinese.Overall, there were 108 unfilled positions, which amounted to a 13 percent shortfall in these five languages. The greatest number of unfilled human intelligence collector positions was in Arabic, but the largest percentage shortfall was in Mandarin Chinese. Table 3 provides data on these shortfalls, by language.

Impact of Language Shortages on Agency Operations

The shortages that agencies reported can have a significant impact on agency operations. Although it is sometimes difficult to link foreign language skills to a specific outcome or event, foreign language shortages have influenced some agency activities. Here are a few examples:

The Army has noted that a lack of linguists is affecting its ability to conduct current and anticipated human and signal intelligence missions. As a result, the Army said that it does not have the linguistic capacity to support two concurrent major theaters of war.

The need for Spanish speakers has been an issue in pursuing Florida health care fraud cases. The assistant U.S. attorney in Miami in charge of health care fraud investigations recently advised the FBI that his office would decline to prosecute health care fraud cases unless timely translations of Spanish conversations were available. This situation has important implications, since the Miami region has the nation’s largest ongoing health care fraud investigation. The FBI estimates that Medicare and Medicaid losses in the region are in excess of $3 billion.

The FBI’s Los Angeles office has also cited a critical need for Spanish language specialists and language monitors for cases involving violent gang members. According to the Bureau, being able to target these gang members will save lives in Los Angeles but is contingent on the availability of Spanish linguists to assist with these investigations.

The need for foreign language speakers has hindered State Department operations. The deputy director of the State Department's National Foreign Affairs Training Center recently testified on this topic. She said that shortfalls in foreign language proficiency have contributed to a lack of diplomatic readiness. As a result, the representation and advocacy of U.S. interests abroad has been less effective; U.S. exports, investments, and jobs have been lost; and the fight against international terrorism and drug trafficking has been weakened.

Finally, the lack of translators has thwarted efforts to combat terrorism. For instance, the FBI has raised concern over the thousands of hours of audio tapes and pages of written material that have not been reviewed or translated due to a lack of qualified linguists.

Agencies Use a Variety of Strategies to Meet Their Foreign Language Needs

Our second objective was to examine federal agencies’ strategies to address these foreign language shortages. The agencies we reviewed are pursuing three general strategies to meet their foreign language needs. First, agencies are focusing on staff development by training staff in foreign languages, providing pay incentives for individuals using those skills, and ensuring an attractive career path for linguists or language-proficient employees. Second, agencies are making use of external resources. This effort can include contracting staff as needed; recruiting native or U.S.-­ trained language speakers; or drawing on the expertise of other agency staff, reservists, or retirees. Third, several agencies have begun to use technology to leverage limited staff resources, including developing databases of contract linguists, employing language translation software, and performing machine screening of collected data. Figure 1 provides an overview of these categories and related strategies.

While these assorted efforts have had some success, current agency strategies have not fully met the need for some foreign language skills, as evidenced by the continuing staffing and proficiency shortfalls that each agency we reviewed faces.

Limited Progress Made Our third objective was to analyze federal agencies’ efforts to implement an on Workforce Planning overall strategic workforce plan to address current and projected foreign language shortages. To help fill existing skills shortages, some agencies have begun to adopt a strategic approach to human capital management and workforce planning. As I mentioned earlier, OPM has issued a workforce planning model that illustrates the basic tenets of strategic workforce planning. We used this model to assess the relative maturity of workforce planning at the four agencies we reviewed. As shown in figure 2, this model suggests that agencies follow a five-step process that includes setting a strategic direction, documenting the size and nature of skills gaps, developing an action plan to address these shortages, implementing the plan, and evaluating implementation progress on an ongoing basis. This is a model that could be used to guide workforce planning efforts as they relate to other skills needed in the federal government such as math, science, and information technology.

We found that the FBI has made an effort to address each of the five steps in OPM’s model. For instance, the FBI has instituted an action plan that links its foreign language program to the Bureau's strategic objectives and program goals. This action plan defines strategies, performance measures, responsible parties, and resources needed to address current and projected language shortages. We found that the FBI’s work in the foreign language area was supported by detailed reports from field offices that documented the Bureau’s needs. The FBI reviewed these reports along with workload statistics from its regional offices. FBI officials noted that implementation progress is routinely tracked and adjustments to the action plan are made as needed.

In contrast, the other three agencies have yet to pursue this type of comprehensive strategic planning and had only completed some of the steps outlined in OPM’s planning model. The Army has limited its efforts to developing a plan partially outlining a strategic direction and identifying its available supply and demand for staff with foreign language skills (addressing only steps 1 and 2 of the OPM model). The State Department has not yet set a strategic direction for its language program; however, the department has addressed step 2 in the workforce planning model through its annual survey of ambassadors regarding foreign language needs at their posts on a position-by-position basis. State has yet to develop an action plan and the related implementation and monitoring steps described in OPM’s model. Finally, the status of the Foreign Commercial Service’s language program closely mirrored the situation we found at the State Department. One difference, however, is that the agency surveys senior officers regarding a post’s foreign language needs every 3 years instead of annually. Another difference is that FCS officials indicated that they have begun a workforce planning initiative that is designed to address the key components outlined in the OPM model.

In closing, I would like to note that foreign language shortages have developed over a number of years. It will take time, perhaps years, to overcome this problem. Effective human capital management and workforce planning, however, offer a reasonable approach to resolving such long-standing problems.

Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, this concludes my prepared statement. I will be happy to answer any questions the Subcommittee members may have.