As agencies ramp up the hiring of federal AI professionals, the Office of Personnel Management is highlighting existing workplace flexibility that can ease the process.
OPM said in new federal AI hiring guidance published Tuesday that pay bonuses, accelerated vacation accrual, student loan repayment, and incentives such as telework and remote work help agencies hire AI experts more effectively. I can help.
Agencies can extend most — but not all — workplace flexibility to incoming federal AI experts without needing to get approval from OPM.
“For some of the flexibilities that require OPM approval — special rates, significant salary and hiring exemptions, relocation and retention incentive payment limits — we are helping agencies and ready to respond to their requests for better compensation tools,” OPM Director Kiran Ahuja said. in guidance.
Pay rate, flexibility in benefits
To more easily hire experienced AI professionals, OPM said agencies should use pay incentives based on recruitment, relocation and retention.
To encourage employees to stay, agencies can offer an annual bonus of 25% of the employee’s base salary for up to four years.
Pay bonuses are reserved for feds in hard-to-fill jobs, or for people who have to relocate. But OPM’s recent approval of direct higher authority for AI-related positions is enough — with no further evidence required — that it’s hard for agencies to fill AI jobs, and therefore qualify for bonuses.
For employees “potentially leaving federal service,” agencies can offer 25% individual bonuses, or 10% group incentives, OPM said. An employee does not need to have another job offer to be eligible for the bonus. Instead, agencies may determine the likelihood of feds leaving their jobs through other factors. This may include employment trends, or the relative success of recruitment efforts for similar positions.
Additionally, agencies may offer student loan repayment options to employees. Payments can be up to $10,000 per year per feed but cannot exceed $60,000 in total. The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) is another incentive agency can highlight when trying to recruit employees to AI.
Many incentives are available to agencies without OPM approval. But some pay flexibilities require a thumbs-up from OPM. Offering higher pay through a special salary rate (SSR) or critical pay authority, for example, requires OPM approval. With the green light from OPM, agencies can also offer pay incentives of up to 50% annually for up to two years.
Accumulation of paid leave for federal AI roles
In addition to pay, there are other ways agencies can try to encourage recruitment and retention in federal AI jobs. In particular, agencies should explore ways to expedite the acquisition of paid leave, OPM said. In some cases, incoming federal employees may count their prior non-federal or active duty military experience toward their annual leave accrual after entering civil service.
Agencies may request authorization from OPM for accelerated leave rates — one day per two-week pay period — for certain types of employees. The leave accrual rate is the same as that of employees in Senior Executive Service (SES), or Senior Level (SL) and Scientific and Professional (ST) posts.
And without requiring OPM approval, agencies can offer more flexible alternative work schedules for employees — outside of the traditional five-day, 40-hour work week. With employees having more flexibility in their work hours, agencies may be able to attract a wider pool of job candidates.
Telework and remote work options
Along with salary and benefits flexibility, agencies can also look into telework and remote work offerings. OPM said telework and remote work improve employee satisfaction, support federal retention and attract more diverse job applicants.
“Remote work can allow agencies to recruit and retain high-quality talent from geographically dispersed labor markets, reduce costs associated with real estate, and improve efficiency and productivity,” OPM said. “
OPM’s new guidance comes in response to an executive order on AI that President Joe Biden signed in October 2023. The order calls for agencies to rapidly increase the hiring of federal AI professionals. As part of the order, OPM received a mandate detailing flexibility that could help federal AI, AI enablement and the recruitment and retention of employees in key technical positions.
The new guidance also comes shortly after OPM approved direct hire authority for agencies recruiting AI experts as part of the AI Executive Order.
Some agencies have already begun to outline their AI recruitment goals. The Department of Homeland Security, for example, plans to create an “AI Corps” of 50 AI personnel.
To try to accomplish its goal, DHS intends to use direct hire authority and other incentives. DHS is hiring more senior-level AI professionals, often for remote jobs, and offering salaries up to $191,900.
In many cases, this is not as much as AI experts can do in the private sector. But Eric Hyson, DHS CIO and chief AI officer, said DHS’s mission will attract potential candidates.
Similarly, OPM said emphasizing flexibilities other than just a position’s salary could help encourage better recruitment and retention for federal AI-related positions.
“These flexibilities can also be used by agencies to recruit and retain talent more broadly, and therefore for other positions of need within agencies,” Ahuja said.
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