Recruiting the AT&L Workforce: Selling the Acquisition Career Field

Abstract

The Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AT&L) workforce of the Department of Defense is facing shortfalls in the personnel it needs to accomplish its mission. The AT&L workforce is presently organized into 13 career fields and includes approximately 80 job series. These shortfalls will begin occurring within the next 5 years as more and more workers become eligible for retirement. That many employees are now working past the initial age of retirement eligibility only postpone the inevitable departure of these dedicated public servants. One way of addressing this impending worker shortage is to begin a comprehensive department-wide campaign to recruit a younger and more technologically savvy workforce. In response to this situation, the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, DUSD(AT&L) asked the Logistics Management Institute to look at the ways management of the AT&L workforce is performing its recruiting responsibilities in highly competitive areas, mostly metropolitan locations, and to recommend steps to improve recruiting to meet the future needs of the acquisition community. The authors used site visits, interviews, focus groups, and questionnaires to examine current recruiting practices for acquisition personnel at 16 government acquisition organizations. They interviewed 24 human resources staff members, 48 managers, and 45 new employees at those organizations to determine the extent to which recruiting follows a systematic approach. In addition, they reviewed the best recruiting practices in both the private and public sectors. Meetings also were held with the head of the recruiting division in the Civilian Career Management Directorate at the Air Force Personnel Center (AFPC) at Randolph Air Force Base (AFB), Texas, the manager of the recruiting pilot program sponsored by AT&L at Edwards AFB in California, and the intern program managers for the Navy and DCMA.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 2003
Accession Number
ADA418448

Entities

People

  • Amy T. Windisch
  • Coleen M. Chapman
  • Delores A. Street
  • Janet C. Burchard
  • Philip H. Crowell

Organizations

  • LMI

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Administrative Personnel
  • Air Force
  • Birds
  • Business Administration
  • Commerce
  • Electronic Mail
  • Employment
  • Engineers
  • Government Employees
  • Human Resources
  • Management Personnel
  • Military Personnel
  • National Security
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Students

Fields of Study

  • Business

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Occupational Health and Safety.