Monetary and Nonmonetary Compensation for High Value U.S. Department of Defense Civilian Skill Sets
Abstract
The U.S. Space Force was established as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for2020 (Pub. L. 116-92), and the manning of this branch will require civilians with high-value skillsets. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is concerned that there will be difficulty recruiting and retaining civilian talent for the U.S. Space Force. As a consequence, DoD needs a better understanding of how DoD civilian compensation compares with private-sector compensation. In this report, we compare monetary and nonmonetary compensation between the DoD civilian and private sectors. We focus on five workforces deemed by the sponsor as having high-value skillsets and being of particular interest because they are likely to be in high demand for manning the U.S. Space Force. The workforces of interest are aerospace engineers and four workforces within the broader umbrella of the defense acquisition workforce: business and financial management, program management, procurement, and engineering and science. Because the U.S. Space Force is newly established, it remains to be seen whether recruiting and retention of civilians in these workforces will be a problem. Yet compensation comparisons between the DoD civilian and private sectors will serve as useful benchmarks, identifying instances in which DoD civilian compensation might fall short. We also note that, although we focus in this report on high-value skill sets relevant to the U.S. Space Force, these workforces are valuable in other DoD contexts. More generally, the methodology that we use in our research could be applied to other workforces.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1115347
Entities
People
- Hannah Acheson-field
- Joshua Russell-fritch
- Molly F. Mcintosh
- Noah Johnson
- Norah Griffin
- Patricia K. Tong
Organizations
- RAND Corporation