January 22, 2003

Recruitment and Retention of Personnel in the Department of Energy

In July 2001, the Office of Inspector General reported on Recruitment and Retention of Scientific and Technical Personnel (DOE/IG-0512). That report disclosed, that the Department of Energy (Department) had been unable to recruit and retain critical scientific and technical staff. Moreover, historical hiring and attrition rates indicated that there might be greater shortages in less than five years' time. To help ensure needed scientific and technical resources would be available to meet mission requirements, we recommended that the Department develop performance measures and take other actions to improve recruitment and retention efforts.

In addition to scientific and technical needs, the Department employs a large number of individuals to provide direct support and perform business related services. These activities include contract performance and accountability, information management, and property control. Because of projected losses, we initiated our audit to determine whether the Department had taken action to recruit and retain sufficient members of administrative personnel and to follow-up on actions taken to address technical and scientific personnel needs. Our scope and methodology are described in the attachment to this report.