The State Department advances U.S. national interests through diplomatic relations with 163 countries at 263 posts worldwide. About 5,900 Foreign Service generalists stationed overseas and at State headquarters perform much of this work. To become a Foreign Service officer, an individual must be an American citizen between 20 and 59 years old on the date of the written examination; pass a written and oral examination; be able to obtain security and medical clearances; and be available for worldwide assignment, including in Washington, D.C. State recruits and hires candidates by administering a written and oral exam to individuals interested in becoming Foreign Service officers. The general skills identified by the department and the exams, which test for those skills, were validated during a 1997 to 1998 job analysis conducted by State employees and outside contractors. According to State officials and consultants, the results of the analysis should be valid for 10 years. In addition, State has updated the exam to reflect changing needs. For example, it added a section on management skills to the Foreign Service written exam to identify more candidates with knowledge useful in this career track. Moreover, the Board of Examiners reviews the exam annually, as required by the Foreign Service Act. The written exam tests for knowledge of 36 topics such as world historical events, geography, basic economic principles and statistics, and basic management principles. Applicants registering for the written exam can self-declare foreign languages spoken and must select a career track or cone. There are five from which to choose: management, consular, economic, political, and public diplomacy. The oral exam assesses a candidate for 13 general skills or competencies: written communication, oral communication, information integration and analysis, planning and organizing, judgment, resourcefulness, initiative and leadership, working with others, experience and motivation, composure, objectivity and integrity, cultural adaptability, and quantitative analysis. State does not test for language proficiency as a requirement for employment. Table 1 shows the number of applicants taking and passing the written and oral exams in fiscal years 2001 through 2003. After a candidate passes both the written and oral exams, he or she is placed on a register of eligible hires and will remain there for up to 18 months or until being placed in an initial training, or A-100, class, according to State officials. There are five separate registers, one for each career track or cone, which rank candidates according to their scores on the oral assessment. To increase the chances that candidates on the register who have language skills are hired, a passing score on an optional telephonic assessment of a candidate’s foreign language skills will add points to the individual’s final score. Each register has a minimum cutoff point, which dictates an immediate conditional offer of employment to those candidates who receive that score on their oral exam. The cutoff points for receiving an immediate conditional offer vary according to each register. Registers with more candidates interested in serving in that career track have higher cutoff points. Each A-100 class consists of between 45 and 90 junior Foreign Service officers who will be assigned as entry-level Foreign Service personnel in overseas or domestic posts. During training, junior officers are required to bid on a list of available jobs from which State’s Entry Level Division will assign them to an overseas post. The officers receive language and job- specific training after they receive their assignments. State used critical elements of workforce planning to identify Foreign Service officer staffing and skill gaps within the next 5 to 10 years. The department determined that it needed to hire 623 new Foreign Service generalists above attrition hiring; to accomplish this, in 2001 it developed a 3-year hiring plan. The department has met its hiring targets for fiscal years 2002 and 2003 and is ready to implement 2004 hiring pending congressional funding. However, officials we interviewed projected that it would take up to 10 years to hire and promote enough junior officers to eliminate the shortfalls at the mid level. Almost all officials we interviewed said State has hired and was in the process of filling overseas positions with very talented and capable junior officers with the general skills and competencies required to do their jobs well. State used critical elements of workforce planning, which include (1) setting strategic direction, (2) analyzing the workforce to determine if staffing and skill gaps exist, (3) developing workforce strategies to fill the gaps, and (4) evaluating the strategies and making needed revisions to ensure that strategies work as intended. Involving various staff (from top to bottom) is important across all the critical elements. (See fig. 1.) direction and program goals. State has done this by implementing a strategic plan, which contains 12 strategic goals and 44 performance goals. Overseas posts participate in the planning process by developing mission program plans that link their resource (including staffing) requests to the strategic goals. The overseas posts submit their plans to the regional bureaus in Washington, D.C. After review and prioritization, the regional bureaus incorporate elements from the mission plans into bureau performance plans, based on policy priorities and initiatives that are relevant to the strategic and performance goals. State has developed an overseas staffing model, which it uses to determine staffing requirements and allocate personnel resources worldwide. The model is linked to State’s strategic goals through the mission program planning process. In 2001, State analyzed its workforce to identify staffing and skill gaps in the Foreign Service. State’s overseas staffing model served as the basis for the analysis, which is a key component of workforce planning. The staffing model, which State updates biennially, measures Foreign Service staffing needs overseas by the five career tracks or “cones.” The model places posts into categories by size and the post’s primary function and determines how many positions the post needs for each career track based on certain workload factors. For example, the model determines the number of administrative positions a post requires based on the number of Americans at the post and such factors as the level of service provided to each U.S. government agency at the post, the number of housing units, and the number of visitors. To identify its Foreign Service staffing needs, State compared the number of officers it had in each career track with the total number of positions to be filled, including new overseas positions required according to post workload categories projected by the staffing model. State used these analyses in determining total staffing needs. State’s analysis considered the level of experience needed for the officers by grade level. In 2001, State determined that it needed 623 new Foreign Service generalists to eliminate its mid-level Foreign Service staffing and skills shortfall. This number includes the 386 overseas positions identified by the overseas staffing model, as well as additional staff needed to manage crises; permit employees to step out of assignment rotation to receive training, including language training; allow employees to seamlessly rotate in and out of positions abroad; allow State to meet domestic responsibilities and fully staff the required details to other U.S. government agencies and offices; and provide employees with training in languages, leadership and management, and tradecraft, such as consular duties. This deficit affected all grade levels, with the majority at the mid level, according to State officials. As of March 2003, State had a combined mid-level deficit of 353 officers in all career tracks. The deficits also included domestic positions, such as desk officers, that Foreign Service officers occupy when they are assigned to headquarters. The largest deficit for these positions is in the public diplomacy career track, due mainly to deficits inherited from the U.S. Information Agency, which was folded into the State Department in 1999. Table 2 shows the staffing deficits and surpluses for Foreign Service generalists by career track. In 2001, the Secretary of State launched the Diplomatic Readiness Initiative (DRI), a $197.5 million plan to address the staffing and skills deficits to ensure diplomatic readiness. This initiative calls for hiring an additional 1,158 employees over attrition, including 623 Foreign Service generalists, between fiscal years 2002 and 2004. This hiring is in addition to the 852 staff needed to fill gaps created by attrition. State’s plans call for the agency to continue hiring at least 200 officers above attrition through fiscal year 2005. To accomplish the increased hiring under the DRI, State is implementing an aggressive recruitment program that incorporates its traditional recruitment at campuses and job fairs with new methods, such as an interactive Web site. State’s recruitment program is focused on addressing shortages in specific career tracks. For example, State is targeting business schools and other appropriate professional associations to recruit applicants with management skills. State officials described a few ways in which they evaluate and revise the agency’s planning process. For example, Human Resources personnel said they frequently adjust the staffing model to ensure that its different components, such as the promotion, retirement, and attrition sections, accurately reflect the trends occurring in the Foreign Service. State also monitors its intake plans. A recruitment committee meets biweekly to review and adjust State’s recruitment and training plans. As a result of these reviews, the committee may move hiring from one career track to another or increase training resources to accommodate the workload. The officials said State also conducts quarterly reviews of bureau staffing to take into account changing priorities. Involving employees at all levels and stakeholders in the workforce planning process is important to encourage support for and understanding of its outcomes. State’s workforce planning process involves managers at all levels. For example, all 37 bureaus as well as all overseas posts provide input. Managers at all levels help determine staffing needs in parts of the organization for mission program plans and bureau performance plans that are then factored into the overall plans. Managers at all levels assist in data gathering as well as assessing and validating the overseas staffing model. Senior management, including the Deputy Secretary and the Undersecretary for Management, reviews all bureau performance plans at formal annual hearings. Budget and human resources analysts also review the bureau performance plans. Further, employees at varying levels serve on committees, such as the recruitment committee, involved in workforce planning.