GAO Observations on OPM's June 1988 Initiative to Recruit and Hire Into the Public Service

GAO discussed the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) proposed initiative for recruiting and hiring federal employees. GAO noted that OPM: (1) stopped using the Professional and Administrative Career Examination (PACE) to rate, rank, and hire entry-level employees in 1982, after a lawsuit charged that PACE discriminated against minorities; (2) plans to work with federal personnel managers and PACE litigation plaintiffs to complete and implement the proposed hiring initiative; and (3) published attractive recruiting brochures describing the opportunities for and benefits of federal employment. GAO believes that the OPM initiative provides better federal job information to applicants and allows agencies to more quickly hire prospective employees, but does not address such essential issues as ensuring fair and open competition, the hiring of special populations, criteria for evaluating applicants' abilities and character, and the pay disparity between the federal and private sectors.