PERSONNEL ISSUES RELATED TO THE EROSION OF BENEFITS FOR THE FEDERAL SERVICE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86B00338R000400530019-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 28, 2008
• Sequence Number: 19
• Publication Date: May 18, 1984
• Content Type: MEMO

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18 flay 1984
NOTE FOR: Director of Personnel
Director ofLegislative Liaison
Let me have. your thoughts on the
attached.
Wi 11 iamll.....Casey
Attachment: '-
Memo dtd 18 May 84
from DCI to D/NSA
LEGISLAIIYE Ii\ISGIN
-~z7
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. 11tr Dirrcli)r of Ccn;r;tl Irtlcl!i`rnr~?
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A\;r:7 u 1 r1 I) C 'I St;
18 May 1984
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director, National Security Agency
SUBJECT: Personnel Issues Related to the Erosion
of B.eneFits for the Federal Service
1. I want to thank you for your very thoughtful memorandum of 9 April
about our personnel resources as they are affected by increased competition
in the private sector, together with the erosion of benefits for federal
service. I agree with you that this is one of the most serious problems we
have and want to address it in as much depth as possible so that the Community
is well armed to address this acute problem with the Administration and the
Congress early next year.
2. 1 am ending copies of your memorandum, together with this note, to
Jim Williams, and Pete Aldridge, having in mind that we can
iscuss I at our next breakfast and decide how to form a small task force
to dig into this issue.
ccc: Director, Defense Intelligence Agency
Under Secretary of the Air Force
Director, Intelligence Community Staff
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. T0 IONAL SECURITY A(-r- ICY
4
,CE'NT'RAL S'ECU1R1TY SERVICE-
,FORT GCOWGE G. MEAIOE. NA4YLA 1D 7.0711
f..i :ial 05;10
9 April 1984
MEMORANDUM FOR THE DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
SUBJECT: Personnel Issues Related to the Erosion of Benefits
for the Federal Service
1. I's want to reiterate my continuing concerns about the
manpower issue we discussed at the Intelligence Seniors'
Planning Conference this past December. I am specifically
concerned about th?_._continuing ability of the Intelligence
Community, and especially NSA, to recruit and retain highly
skilled professionals in the face of eroding Civil Service
benefits.
scientific staff. P.ecrutmen
have always been difficult because of the level of competition for
their services from both the public and private sectors. Through
creative management techniques including expanded recruitment
initiatives, compressed pre-employment processing time, special
salary scales, and in-house career development programs, we have
r
been surprisingly successful in attracting and retaining a number
of these highly mobile individuals. We have increased our sta.==
of young scientists and engineers by 26 percent over the last three
years, and have been successful in keeping our attrition rate at
about 5 percent. Ho'.:ever, the trend of minimal federal pay raises
and eroding federal benefits, matched against increasingly
attractive benefit .packages and higher pay from the private
sector, may upset the delicate balance we have been striving to
maintain. Further, the OPM-instigated GS-11 through GS-15
reduction plan, if imposed within the Community, would also
impact significantly on these individuals. Quality GS-07 and
GS-09 critical skilled people would not be attracted to or
remain in employment that offered such limited growth potential.
2. There are three groups of people in the NSA work force
who are most vulnerable to talented
The first group encompasses our recently hired, young,
engineers, computer scientists, and mathematicians. The second
group is comprised of our critical-skilled people, again primarily
engineers, data systems and mathematics professionals, ranging in
age from their late 20's to their 40's. The third group includes
our senior executives,,'managers, and technical specialists. These
three groups-represent our present and future development as an
agency. A significant.loss of people from any or all of these
groups would impact greatly on our ability to perform our mission.
3. The first group--the young, talented scientific
professionals--are our greatest hope for the future. The
constantly changing high-tech developments in intelligence
collection and analysis demand continuing increases in our
t and retention of these individuals
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4.
.:ice oral coup- itical ski 11
i.vidt.uaIs in
01e;
late
24
their yU .s--are li::r~wise subl:~c:,.
to the same
pu~:'r,
null
of
t. i.:7,_r.is;ting fedCra:'L ber'e`i is and Lucr
rive offers
from
private _irxJ?rstry. It is crucial to our pis sicr: to retain as man?i- of
these individuals as possible, as they represent the backbone of
technical skill and knowledge necessary to produce high quality
intelligence products. Our implementation of career development
programs, special salary scales, and financial incentives for
linguists has kept the attrition rates of these people at an average
of 4 percent. However, given the present trends, we can foresee
that the attrition rate of this group could jump to as high as
10 percent--an impact that would seriously impede our ability to do
our job. In addition, imposing the GS-11 through GS-15 reduction
plan would make the prognosis for recruiting experienced critical
skilled profe'ssionals`poor. Like the GS-07 and GS-09 college
recruits, highly mobile, experienced professionals will not be
attracted to limited growth careers.
5. Finally, our senior executives, managers, and technical
specialists--the third group--are also affected by the proposed
changes in benefits. Over 40 percent of these individuals will be
eligible to retire in the next two years. Given the prospect of
'trying to manage and motivate a demoralized, lower quality work
force, many of them may opt to retire earlier than they would have
done otherwise.. Many of our younger talented senior executives and
technical experts have highly marketable management and technical
expertise that makes them especially attractive to private industry.
We may therefore see an exodus to industry as well as to premature
retirement. One GS-15 engineer, who resigned to accept employment
in private industry, expressed it this way:
"...I would rather let the marketplace determine
what my skills are worth and not Congress and a
general public that in many areas perceive the
Federal worker as having too many benefits anyway.
...I consider it an honor to have been an NSA
employee for almost 18 years, and leave not because
of conditions related to the work or fellow workers,
but because of the current and what I see as the
trend in Federal employment benefits and compensation."
A hastened departure of our senior staff, combined with a reduced
capability to attract and retain professional and technical people,
will leave us void of the manpower essential to our mission require-
ments. On the other hand, given the stress and-"burnout" associated
with a career in intelligence, a.retirement system that forces our
people to work until age 65 is no solution either.
6. Like many other agencies, we are involved in a struggle to
replace a gradually aging work force through recruiting and retaining
Vounoer, talented, well-educated people. Unfortunately, these are
i_he very people who are being discouraced from considering government
service as a career. We must develop an aggressive strategy to maintain
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h. i _!r1th o_` t.._ Intelligence Comni..:ri.ty now and in the future.
a i Lie:a~le in the interis'_;'~ c`f national :~r~ourit}' we take
opporti:- zo imoress upon t;:e Administration .snd the
ress the u_c-ncy of keeping the intelligence service attractive
stable.
LINCOLN D. FAURER
Lieutenant General, USAF
Director, NSA/Chief, CSS'
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INTER ^ CONFIDEN*L ^ ~SECR2ET
^ UNCLASSIFIED ^ USE O
ROUTING AND RECORD SHEET
SUBJECT: (Optional)
Personnel Issues Related to the Erosion of Benefits
for thy Federal Service
FROM:
Clair E. George
Director, Offic of Legislative Liaison
TO: (Officer designation, room number, and
building)
FORM 610 USE PREVIOUS
3-62
OLL 84-2047/1
25 MAY 1984
OFFICER'S I COMMENTS (Number each comment to show from whom
INITIALS to whom. Draw a line across column after each comment.)
^ SECRET ^ CONFIDENTIAL U USE ONLY U unirmu
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