A Weapon on the War for Talent: Using Special Authorities to Recruit Crucial Personnel

To meet the need for highly skilled professionals and administrators whose talents are in great demand in the public and private sectors, Congress has given special authority to certain federal agencies to hire such people under streamlined procedures and at salaries that are very high by federal standards. This report inventories and describes the various applications of these authorities in different agencies. The study analyzes the uses to which these authorities have been put and assesses their value to the agencies. It draws conclusions about the most effective uses of these special hiring authorities, as well as remaining challenges for improving this approach to meeting governmental human resource needs in highly competitive labor markets. Human Capital Management