Modernizing and Reforming the Assessment and Hiring of Federal Job Candidates
Record date: 2020-07-01
( printed page 39457) Executive Order 13932 of June 26, 2020 Modernizing and Reforming the Assessment and Hiring of Federal Job Candidates By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 301 of title 3, United States Code , and sections 1104(a)(1), 3301, and 7301 of title 5, United States Code, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1 . Purpose . The foundation of our professional merit-based civil service is the principle that employment and advancement
What this record contains
- Federal Register document
- 2020-14337
- Publication date
- 2020-07-01
- Citation
- 85 FR 39457
- Issuing office
- Executive Office of the President
Official record excerpt
( printed page 39457) Executive Order 13932 of June 26, 2020 Modernizing and Reforming the Assessment and Hiring of Federal Job Candidates By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 301 of title 3, United States Code , and sections 1104(a)(1), 3301, and 7301 of title 5, United States Code, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1 . Purpose . The foundation of our professional merit-based civil service is the principle that employment and advancement rest on the ability of individuals to fulfill their responsibilities in service to the American public. Accordingly, Federal Government employment opportunities should be filled based on merit. Policies or practices that undermine public confidence in the hiring process undermine confidence in both the civil service and the Government. America's private employers have modernized their recruitment practices to better identify and secure talent through skills- and competency-based hiring. As the modern workforce evolves, the Federal Government requires a more efficient approach to hiring. Employers adopting skills- and competency-based hiring recognize that an overreliance on college degrees excludes capable candidates and undermines labor-market efficiencies. Degree-based hiring is especially likely to exclude qualified candidates for jobs related to emerging technologies and those with weak connections between educational attainment and the skills or competencies required to perform them. Moreover, unnecessary obstacles to opportunity disproportionately burden low-income Americans and decrease economic mobility. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) oversees most aspects of the civilian Federal workforce, including creating and maintaining the General Schedule classification system and determining the duties, responsibilities, and qualification requirements for Federal jobs. Executive departments and agencies (agencies), however, are responsible for vetting and selecting specific candidates to fill particular job openings consistent with statutory requirements and OPM rules and guidance, including applicable minimum educational requirements. Currently, for most Federal jobs, traditional education—high school, college, or graduate-level—rather than experiential learning is either an absolute requirement or the only path to consideration for candidates without many years of experience. As a result, Federal hiring practices currently lag behind those of private sector leaders in securing talent based on skills and competency. My Administration is committed to modernizing and reforming civil service hiring through improved identification of skills requirements and effective assessments of the skills job seekers possess. We encourage these same practices in the private sector. Modernizing our country's processes for identifying and hiring talent will provide America a more inclusive and demand-driven labor force. Through the work of the National Council for the American Worker and the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board, my Administration is fulfilling its commitment to expand employment opportunities for workers. The increased adoption of apprenticeship programs by American employers, the creation of Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs, and the implementation of Federal hiring reforms, including those in this order, represent important steps toward providing more Americans with pathways to family- ( printed page 39458) sustaining careers. In addition, the Principles on Workforce Freedom and Mobility announced by my Administration in January 2020 detail reforms that will expand opportunities and eliminate unnecessary education costs for job seekers. This order builds on the broader work of my Administration to expand opportunity and create a more inclusive 21st-century economy. This order directs important, merit-based reforms that will replace degree-based hiring with skills- and competency-based hiring and will hold the civil service to a higher standard—ensuring that the individuals most capable of performing the roles and responsibilities required of a specific position are those hired for that position—that is more in line with the principles on which the merit system rests. Sec. 2 . Revision of Job Classification and Qualification Standards . (a) The Director of OPM, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, and the heads of agencies, shall review and revise all job classification and qualification standards for positions within the competitive service, as necessary and consistent with subsections (a)(i) and (a)(ii) of this section. All changes to job classification and qualification standards shall be made available to the public within 120 days of the date of this order and go into effect within 180 days of the date
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