DOT Can Improve Workforce Planning Procedures and Metrics for Estimating Needs and Assessing Capacity To Deliver IIJA Programs

Our Objective(s)To (1) evaluate surface transportation Operating Administrations' processes for identifying positions needed to implement new and expanded Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) programs and (2) report on those Operating Administrations' progress toward addressing identified IIJA staffing needs. Why This AuditIn 2022, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) established a goal to hire more than 1,400 employees in its surface transportation Operating Administrations and the Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST) to respond to identified IIJA-related surface transportation workforce needs between fiscal years 2022 and 2026. Successful IIJA program implementation relies in part on DOT maintaining the needed, appropriately skilled workforce. Accordingly, we initiated this audit to assess DOT's estimation of its workforce needs. What We FoundSurface transportation Operating Administrations and OST can improve planning processes and better incorporate data-analytic methods for estimating IIJA workforce needs. Despite a requirement to plan for and manage workforce needs and update hiring goals, most Operating Administrations and OST did not document policies and procedures for estimating IIJA workforce needs or for updating ongoing hiring estimates. Further, Federal regulations require Federal agencies to use comprehensive data-analytic methods for workforce planning. However, two Operating Administrations and OST did not employ such methods. Surface transportation Operating Administrations and OST reported filling most IIJA target positions, but DOT's hiring metrics do not accurately reflect onboard workforce capability. As of May 2024, DOT reported filling 1,204 new IIJA positions. Surface transportation Operating Administrations and OST initially set a goal to hire 1,403 employees by the end of fiscal year 2026. As of September 2024, several Operating Administrations and OST had adjusted their targets, bringing the total new-hire target to 1,638. DOT tracks and reports to the Office of Personnel Management the number of selections it has made for those positions. However, these data may not accurately reflect whether new positions are currently filled or whether DOT has advanced its progress in meeting its IIJA workforce capacity goals because the number of reported selections includes all individuals who received an employment offer-even if those individuals are not yet working, subsequently leave the Agency after starting employment, or transfer internally from a non-IIJA position. RecommendationsWe made 2 recommendations to improve DOT's processes for estimating its workforce needs.