Bipartisan reforms and politically charged assessments are integrated into OPM's hiring strategy based on merit. The new test process generates controversy.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has introduced a groundbreaking "Merit Hiring Plan" for federal job applicants, aiming to revolutionize the federal hiring process. This plan, outlined in a joint memo from Vince Haley and Charles Ezell, seeks to eradicate longstanding efforts to make the federal workforce more reflective of the American populace.

Under this new plan, agencies are instructed to immediately cease allowing applicants to self-assess their skills and qualifications. Instead, human resource officials will have to create a paper matrix for each applicant, send it to a panel of subject matter experts, and manually put them into scores.

Job applicants seeking any federal position GS-5 or above will face a more rigorous application process. They will be required to answer essay questions, including one about advancing the president's executive orders and policy priorities. The hiring process will also include an essay questionnaire that queries job applicants on their patriotism, commitment to the Constitution, country’s founding principles, improving government efficiency, and overall work ethic.

The plan calls on agencies to end the use of racial quotas and preferences in the federal hiring process. Additionally, the federal government's HR agency will no longer collect and disseminate statistics regarding the composition of the agency’s workforce based on race, sex, colour, religion, or national origin.

The new hiring process has sparked controversy, with some human resource officials finding it "insane" that they are required to decide what an applicant's answers would be and what their score should be. Don Kettl, professor emeritus at the University of Maryland, expresses his concern that the decision to cease data collection and monitoring of the demographic makeup of the federal workforce will hurt both those who study government and agency decision-makers.

Kettl also suggests that the administration's fervor to excise all things diversity, equity, and inclusion from the hiring process has resulted in a missed opportunity to solve the issue of the hiring process being out of sync with the mission. He believes it is important to know whether or not you're hiring 90% men for certain occupations, as blindly not monitoring demographic data could have implications.

The "Merit Hiring Plan" also includes bipartisan reforms to improve the pace and quality of the hiring process. These reforms include skills-based hiring initiatives, shared certifications, and shorter federal resumes. The plan also expands recruiting efforts to religious colleges and universities, homeschooling, and other faith-based groups.

Despite the concerns raised, the OPM believes that these changes will lead to a more merit-based and efficient federal hiring process, ensuring that the best candidates are selected for each position. The full impact of these changes remains to be seen, but it is clear that the federal job application process is undergoing a significant transformation.

Bipartisan reforms and politically charged assessments are integrated into OPM's hiring strategy based on merit. The new test process generates controversy.