OPM seeks cybersecurity talent to join Tech Force

The Office of Personnel Management is now expressly recruiting cybersecurity employees through the U.S. Tech Force, which the Trump administration launched last year after pushing out over 19,500 tech, data and cyber government workers from across various agencies.

Recruits will work across the federal government for two-year terms. OPM set an initial goal of hiring a 1,000-person cohort when it began the program last winter. Many agencies participating in Tech Force are currently in the final stages of hiring, according to an OPM spokesperson, who said that cyber hires will also be part of the initial cohort.

The government has long struggled to recruit and retain the cyber talent it needs to protect critical systems, although that workforce hasn’t been spared from cuts under the Trump administration’s aggressive downsizing. 

The government is looking to hire software engineers, data scientists and product managers to join the Tech Force in addition to cybersecurity talent. Last month, OPM also launched a dedicated NASA Force within the larger program to place fellows at the space agency.

Twenty-plus private companies are collaborating with the administration on the program by providing training and mentorship opportunities. Those companies will also nominate their own employees to do government stints as managers for the Tech Force, a setup that’s raised a host of ethics and conflict of interest concerns, as these managers will remain employed by and on leave from their private sector companies while working for the government. 

Scott Kupor, the head of OPM, has emphasized the importance of making it easier for professionals to move in and out of the public sector during their careers and pitched the Tech Force as a way to create those opportunities, as well as bring more young people into the government’s workforce.