Pay Raise: Solution to Hiring and Retention Problems?

One thing that’s come up in discussions about staffing up for the Forest Service work under BIL and IRA is the extra pay/benefits for new people, but not for current employees.  The Forest Service is working very hard to get more folks.  What’s interesting to me about this story from Greenwire (this is as far as I could see, so maybe there’s more interesting stuff behind the paywall) is why EPA would have more trouble hiring than any other agency.  Yes, and us old folks retiring (HR folks have been predicting this for the last 20 years or so).  What FS folks say is that people want to work remotely and not be in the field or small towns with few resources.  Seems like EPA jobs would be perfect for that.  I also wonder how some agencies can hire people (although with difficulty) and others cannot..

I particularly liked.. “if we don’t get a pay raise the future of the planet is at stake.”

Anyway I had heard that something like 25% of the positions on the org chart at BLM are open… perhaps BLM and FS jobs need to boost pay as well?

GREENWIRE | EPA employees are pleading with members of Congress this week to help boost pay and retain staff at their agency that’s central to the Biden administration’s climate agenda.

Members of the American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, EPA’s largest union, are meeting with lawmakers this week and plan to rally at the agency’s Washington headquarters Wednesday to draw attention to what they warn is a “mounting staffing crisis.”

The agency’s mission has expanded with the enactment of major laws including the climate law known as the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure law, according to the staff union, but hiring and staff retention haven’t matched the new workload.

EPA staffing levels are 20 percent less than under the Clinton administration, according to AFGE Council 238, and 3,000 employees — 21 percent of the agency’s workforce — are currently eligible for retirement.

“Our mission has grown enormously, and climate challenges continue to escalate, but EPA’s inability to hire and retain staff has created a crisis,” said AFGE Council 238 President Marie Owens Powell. “Salaries are not competitive and promotion opportunities are scarce. We need to raise pay and restore career ladders now. The future of the EPA and our planet are at stake.”

…