A FORCE IN FLUX
CLOSING THE GAP
The Army is modernizing its workforce by focusing on hiring for in-demand skills and providing additional technical training for existing employees, especially in fields like engineering and cyber. This is crucial for attracting a new generation of public servants to Army civilian employment. (Photo by Mark Getman, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Hamilton)
he said. “Tere’s always a surprise as I start to talk to folks about our work on systems, IT architecture or social media and how we did the largest implementation of PeopleSoft in the world,” he said. “Tey go, ‘You’re doing that in the Army?’ Yes, we’re doing that in the Army.”
According to Johnson, the second major challenge is that Army leaders should ensure they are taking charge of their own educa- tion and staying abreast of the latest developments and ideas in their respective fields. “If we’re going to keep up, if we’re going to modernize, if we’re going to attract the best talent for the Army, we have to do that.” His directorate has created recom- mended reading lists for new concepts, data analytics, customer service and more, to foster continuous learning (See the Adjutant General Directorate’s essential reading guide, Page 48).
A CHANGING WORKFORCE Tough it has dominated the headlines, COVID was not the only factor precipitating the changes in work flexibility in the U.S. “It is important to keep in mind that there were a few other
44 Army AL&T Magazine Winter 2024
changes that happened around the same time as the COVID- 19 pandemic, but actually have nothing to do with COVID,” said John O’Duinn, an expert on distributed teams and a senior adviser for the Office of Human Resource Management at the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). “One is a genera- tional change. In 2016, millennials became the largest segment of the U.S. workforce. In 2021, Gen Z, who come after millen- nials, became the second largest segment of the U.S. workforce. Tese two segments now make up 57% of the U.S. general work- force.” However, they only account for between 6% and 19% of the federal workforce, depending on certain factors. “By contrast, 45% of our federal workforce are over the age of 50 and 15% of the federal workforce is eligible to retire today,” he said.
Cross agreed that there is room for improvement in the makeup of the federal workforce, and she cited data about women in many roles and career fields. “When you’re thinking about the mission of the Department of Defense and the Army, diverse access to talent is mission-critical,” she said. “In STEM, mission- critical occupations are held by women under 22%, and they are
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