These approaches are  similar to each others and to those used by organizations with comparable  workforces. NNSA has supported its contractors by clarifying the roles and  responsibilities of the contractors and providing additional funding to help  them recruit workers to fill critically skilled positions. Contractors’ Approaches for Recruiting and Retaining a Critically Skilled Workforce Have Been Generally Effective

The efforts of NNSA’s contractors to recruit and retain a critically skilled  workforce have been generally effective, according to our analysis of the  contractors’ data, our review of the contractors’ workforce planning  processes, and information gathered from stockpile stewardship program  managers. The average retirement age for critically skilled workers at Y-12 is  approximately 59 years, and 364 of its critically skilled workers as of fiscal  year 2003, or about 23 percent, are over the age of 55. To ensure that they will be in a position to meet their future critical  skill needs, all eight nuclear weapons facilities have incorporated to some  degree into their planning processes the five key principles we have  identified as essential to strategic workforce planning: (1) involving  management and employees in developing and implementing the strategic  workforce plan, (2) determining critical skill needs through workforce gap  analysis, (3) developing workforce strategies to fill gaps, (4) building  needed capabilities to support workforce strategies, and (5) monitoring  and evaluating progress in achieving goals. NNSA Contractors and Organizations with Comparable Workforces Face Ongoing Challenges but Have Developed Strategies to Mitigate Most of Them

NNSA contractors face ongoing challenges in recruiting and retaining a  critically skilled workforce and are using a number of strategies to mitigate  them. Beyond their challenges, NNSA contractors face future  uncertainties that could affect their ability to recruit and retain a critically  skilled workforce in the years ahead. In addition to the amount of time it takes to obtain security clearances,  most of NNSA’s contractors also face the ongoing challenge of recruiting  from a declining pool of technically skilled potential employees. Conclusion

While NNSA contractors have been generally effective in recruiting and  retaining the critically skilled workforce needed currently, are well poised  to maintain the critically skilled workforce that will be needed in the near  future, and have successfully mitigated many of the challenges they have  already faced, the future will almost certainly bring additional challenges  and uncertainties the contractors will need to continue to stay aware of and  address. To assess the extent to which the remaining challenges, and the  strategies used to mitigate these challenges, are similar to those of  organizations with comparable workforces, we spoke with human resource  representatives from the six research and advanced technology  organizations with comparable workforces and the two industry  associations.
Why GAO Did This Study

Responsibility for ensuring the safety and reliability of the nuclear weapons stockpile rests upon a cadre of workers at eight contractor-operated National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) weapons facilities. Many of these workers--including scientists, engineers, and technicians--have "critical" skills needed to maintain the stockpile. About 37 percent of these workers are at or near retirement age, raising concern about whether these specialists will have time to pass on their knowledge and expertise to new recruits. In this context, Congress asked us to (1) describe the approaches that NNSA, its contractors, and organizations with similar workforces are using to recruit and retain critically skilled workers; (2) assess the extent to which these approaches have been effective; and (3) describe any remaining challenges, strategies to mitigate these challenges, and the similarity of these challenges and strategies to those of organizations with comparable workforces.

What GAO Found

NNSA contractors have each developed and implemented a multifaceted approach to recruit and retain critically skilled workers. These approaches are similar to those used by six organizations with comparable workforces with whom GAO spoke and consist of combinations of activities tailored to meet the specific needs of each facility. These activities include offering internships and providing knowledge transfer opportunities. NNSA has supported the contractors' efforts by, for example, providing additional funding to help them recruit workers to fill critically skilled positions. The efforts of NNSA's contractors to recruit and retain a critically skilled workforce have been generally effective. The contractors' fiscal year 2000 through 2003 data show that all eight facilities have maintained the critically skilled workforce needed to fulfill its current mission. In addition, our review of the workforce planning processes of each facility shows that they have incorporated, to varying degrees, the five principles GAO has identified as essential to strategic workforce planning. Finally, most of the program managers GAO spoke with believe their facilities have, and are well poised to maintain, the critically skilled workforce needed to fulfill their mission. NNSA contractors and the six organizations with comparable workforces face ongoing challenges in recruiting and retaining a critically skilled workforce, but are using a number of similar strategies to mitigate most of these challenges. These challenges include the amount of time it takes new staff to obtain security clearances and a shrinking pool of technically trained potential employees. Beyond such identifiable challenges, NNSA contractors also face future uncertainties, such as the possibility that a new contractor might be awarded the contract and shifts in their mission that could affect their ability to recruit and retain a critically skilled workforce in the future.