ROUTING AND RECORD SHEET HIRING FREEZE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP84B00890R000500110004-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 9, 2003
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: February 5, 1981
• Content Type: FORM

ROUTING AND RECORD SHEET
B
S
U
JECT: (Optional)
Hiring Freeze
DD/A Registry
FROA!arry E. Fitzwater
EXTENSION
NO.
Director of Personnel
Policy, Planning, and Management
ATE 5 February 1981
TO: (Officer designation, room number, and
DATE
building)
OFFICER'S
COMMENTS (Number each comment to show from whom
RECEIVED
FORWARDED
INITIALS
to whom. Draw a line across column after. each comment.)
1? Acting Deputy Director
for Administration
The attached draft memo
i
d f
i
b
i
2
or your rev
s su
m
tte
ew
ASAP. The memo was hurriedly
written and is Lengthy, but
d
ff
3
icult
as you realize it is
i
to be specific w-it.hout being
wordy. As you iii 11 note, I
.
elected to leave in the 530
a
in-process and atte net's. These
can be discussed at our next
5.
meeting.
After you have had a chance
6.
to review the p:: )er, I will call
another meeting to discuss and
fir..a.1:1 ze the memo.
7.
s.
?
ar 1. 'l "-i 1. 'wa ,er it.
9.
Att
10.
11.
"
12.
/
744-0-
13.
14.
15.
FORM 610 USE PREVI prove
I-79 EDITIONS
For Release
STAT
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1) h I'zi~ra~ry .10.l.
The Honorable David Alai Stockman
Director
Office of Management and Budget.
Wash:incton, D. C. 20503
I have received from my sonior SL fl their assessment of the _impact of the
Presidents hiring freeze on their programs. While there are many serious
problems throughout the Agency, I have pared the list of reported critical
requirements to only those categories discussed below:
a. Appliicants C_urxer_t;ly ;n Process
-- As of 1 February we had 530 applicants in process who
were given commitment letters subsequent to 5 November 1.980. Of
these, under ideal conditions, only 265 would survive the clearance
process.
-- Our hiring situation is made even more acute because
of the classified nature of our worlk. As a prerequisite to
employment, applicants must undergo an extensive, time-consuming,
and expensive security investigation. The process takes months.
We regularly lose many applicants because of this length}' processing
and the fact that we are recruiting individuals for whom there
are many competing employment opportunities. To delay the hiring
of fully cleared applicants merely increases their loss.
Because of our unique hiring problems, a considerable
investment of time and money has been spent in the recruitment,
advertising, selection and investigative screening of those
applicants currently in process. Those 530 have been selected from
among approximately 15,000 applicants. It would be an indefensible
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waste not to continue the processing of these appl:i.cai is and not to
allow those that pass the process to report for duty. We will lose
most of these applicants unless we can assure their that they will be
hired if cleared.
-- It is important and in Our best interest to treat this entire
group as exempted from the freeze in order to realize a return on the
invest. ent already mode in them.
b. Communications
Foreign: The Agency's Office of Comm riications provides a world-
tions. At this time the OF-[ice of Corr:; ications is understaffed by
100 personnel. Unless it can fill its current staffing requirements,
0
new facilities at sensitive overseas areas cannot be manned--
a serious loss to our operations Directorate's clandestine activity.
Plans to expand six important posts will have to be cancelled. Moreover,
reductions will have to be imposed at other posts, e.g., seven four-
man stations to three -man;L__Jiree--magi to two-man; and two-man
stations to one-man. These cuts would reduce operations by ^ percent
and traffic handling by Flpercent . If the current shortages of
personnel in this Office continue :i.t will be necessary to eliminate
an African base station with the result that 40 percent of the
traffic now transmitted electrically would have to be sent by dispatch
and pouch, with the obvious crippling delay involved.
Domestic: The Office of Communications is also responsible for
the maintenance and repair of the Headquarters telephone service and
It is now projecting an increase
in overtime of 66 percent in 1981, but if the freeze continues an
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additional 10 percent will be necessary. Despite this overtime, a si.gnifi-
cant delay will occur in. response time to maintenance and repair of the
Headquarters area. telephone service
-- The Office's Engineering Division is responsible for
the design, modification and modernization of systems and equipment
such as M RCURY, SKYLIN'K, and secure voice. Current manpower shortages
will force a curtailment of all these activities.
'Die impact of measures taken to alleviate the un.derstaffing problem and
maintain worldwide coir.7nunications are already evident in stress-related
illnesses, increased attrition. because of employee dissatisfaction and a steady
increase in requests for transfers out of the Office. Given the current critical
shortages which exist. in this Office so vital to the Nation's secure
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co.1mlunications network and our intelligence effort, the Office of
Cornrunications must be allowed to fill all of its current vacancies and.
future vacancies within their authorized ceiling.
c. Hard-to-Get Critical Skills
-- The following occupational groupings are
fulfillment of our mission:
1Ctt it ion rough
Occupational Category End/of FY- 81 In Prc{cess
Communications Specialists r /49.
Operations Officers 1 200
Engineers and Physical
Scientists
Computer Specialists
Ckuza--~, Security Officers and
Couriers
Linguists
Clericals
a+~ nee
Totalsl j.}x existing vacancies
-- The impact of a hiring freeze on the above critical categories
Operations Officers - The 1978-79 Operations Directorate's
personnel reductions, combined with a very high retirement attrition resulted
in the loss of thousands of man-years of experience, the present
shortage of 100 officers, and a projected shortage of 200 by the end of
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FY-1981. This understrength coincides with dramatic increases in demands for
clandestine human intelligence collection against economic, monetary,
nuclear, science and. technology and political targets; the "rebirth"
of covert action geieratcd by events in the Near East, Latin America
and Africa; the influx of
and the necessity to open new stations overseas.
In spite of a hostile overseas environment,i.etking overseas assignment
less than attractive, a major recruiting effort was beginning to make
up the deficit in these officers. Under ideal conditions these
officers are hard to recruit; they are usually enployed, and often
at salaries higher than we can affort to pay, and because of their
qualifications they are in great demand in both the public and private
sectors. It is necessary that an input of 160 Career Trainees and
40 non-official cover officers be recruited annually in order to
reach and maintain ceiling. The interrelationship of hiring and
training these officers is inextricable; it is one process and
when one part of the chain is broken the entire process is thrown
awry. Because of length of processing and availability of training
resources, new applicants are not available for operations production
for at least 20 months after being placed in process. Even if the
freeze were lifted now it is doubtful that there would be an output
class from these recruits until spring 1983. In summary, the full
hiring freeze will cause major problems for the Operations Directorate.
over both the short- and long-term.
Engineers/Physical Scientists - It has been impossible
to fill the requirements for these occupational skills since they are
in critically short supply nationally and are in great demand in
the private sector. With the limitation in salaries CIA ha cT cat
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difficulty competing with industry for the quality of officers
needed for our scientific work. Eight months ago we mounted a major
recruitment drive for engineers that was beginning to pay dividends
as is evident by 86 in process for 112 current and projected attrition
requirements--although we would be fortunate to bring on-duty half of
those in process. The freeze will primarily impact on the Science and
Technology Directorate in the Offices of Development and Engineering,
National Photographic Interpretation Center; SIGINT Operations and the
Office of Logistics. Newly funded and sensitive programs cannot help but
suffer. The Office of Scientific and Weapons Research will be hampered in
making timely analysis of space weapons systems, nuclear warheads and
computer technology.
Computer` Scientists - The Agency is heavily dependent
on computers to carry out its essential intelligence collection,
analysis, production and administrative functions. Failure to keep
most of the computer positions filled will meaar a total disruption
in the computer work of the Agency. In addition, the starting date
of the interactive computer Project SAFE (Support
for Analysts File Environment) will be delayed, as will large
numbers of applications programs. Vast amounts of overtime will
be required just to keep the present highly sophisticated computer
system in operation should there be no relief from the freeze. Like
engineers, this occupational group is highly competitive in the labor
market and difficult to recruit.
Guards, Security Officers and Couriers - This
occupational. category is vital to the protection of highly sensitive
classified information, and installations, both in the Headquarters
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-- The security officers are in demand for investigation
and clearance of Agency applicants and individuals involved in
classified industrial projects. These officers are involved also in
counterintelligence and anti-terrorism activities overseas.
-- The courier group services over =delivery/pick-up STAT
points around the world and around the clock. We are currently
under strength by one-third of our authorized ceiling; in this
category, requiring that these employees work large amounts of overtime and
seven days a week. To live with the situation we have cut courier runs
to a minimum in the face of increasing demands. Since these
individuals are low graded, it is difficult to recruit suitable
candidates that can be cleared. for this highly sensitive and
important job. We are always short of this occupational group and
unless an exception to the freeze is granted, professionals will
he serving as couriers and guards.
Linguists - Skilled linguists are a vanishing breed
in America. This comes at a time of increased demand for
linguists by both the government and multinational corporations. . For
example, increased requirements to translate documents from the
Muslim world have been levied on
officers for very esoteric languages overseas. At this time
this Directorate is 50 percent below its language capability need.
In many cases, there are only a few people in the United States who
speak and read the more difficult languages. Once an applicant with
a language capability is found, we consider it absolutely necessary
STAT
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to hireApproecfF?or F ee~j4U~0~3 p~rR$40$T96(~~d69d~9
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Clericals - Here we are concerned not only with typists
and stenographers to produce our large numbers of intelligence
reports, but also the file clerks who gather data and the payroll
clerks to ensure that employees are paid.
-- Based on earlier moratoriums on hiring, the
Operations Directorate already has 75 clerical vacancies in
Headquarters and 30 in the field. Under normal conditions, we
employ wives as clerical workers under part-time contracts in the
field, thus saving millions of dollars a year in moving full-time
career secretaries from Headquarters. The present freeze prohibits
us from taking advantage of these savings. As another example
of the impact of the freeze on hiring clericals, the Office of
Central Reference will he two months behind in providing documents
needed by the analysts to write intelligence reports. In short,
all the work of the Agency will take longer to produce as clerical
vacancies increase because of the freeze. Because of the demands for
these people in all sectors of the economy they are always in short
supply. A total hiring freeze of clericals for a lengthy period would
result in a significant stopping of the work of the Agency.
Attorneys - Starting with a small number of positions,
our General Counsel's Office expects to be at only half strength
if the freeze should continue the rest of this fiscal year. The
work of the Office of General. Counsel (0GC) is being driven by almost
200 cases in active litigation. The Director's statutory authority
and sensitive sources and methods will be seriously compromised unless
0GC is adequately staffed. In addition, high priority must be given
to operational opportunities within extremely short deadlines.
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d. Critical Skills (Not hard-to-get)
Attrition Through
Occupational Occupational Category End of FY-1981 In Process
Production Analysts
145 20
The impact of a continuing hiring freeze follows:
Production Anal sts - In the Congressional approved budget
for FY-1981 the National Foreign Assessment Center (NFAC)
was authorized an additional 64 positions and projects losses
of an additional 145 people through the end of FY--1981.
-- NFAC's research on geographic, economic and political
issues will be most affected by the freeze. NFAC does not have
enough people working on required aspects of the Third World.
Critical subjects that cannot be addressed because of the lack
of analysts with the necessary backgrounds, and because the people
presently employed on Third World subjects are heavily engaged in
current intelligence on crises rather than in research. The areas
where we are unable to meet our research objectives include:
Central America and the Caribbean; Egypt and Saudi Arabia;
Eastern Europe; energy shortages
South Africa; and
factors supporting Third World political instability.
-- Fifty to sixty analysts with the following skills
are needed: 15 economists with various area specialities and/or
background in energy topics; 20 people from among the disciplines
of anthropology, political/cultural geography, demography,
critical non-fuel resources; and 20 people with area expertise
in Latin America (particularly Central America,
Brazil),
Africa, and the Middle East (especially Egypt, Saudi Arabia and
the lesser Gulf States).
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-- In the absence to hire at least 145 of the above
category, I expect degradation to CIA's intelligence production.
In summary, the minimwn relief I have discussed above will allow me
to fulfill my statutory responsibilities as Director at an acceptable level
while at the same time will demonstrate my support of the President's effort
to curb federal employment.
I am, of course, prepared to meet with you personally to discuss this
request in greater detail.
Yours,
William J. Casey
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-- In the absence to hire at least 145 of the above
category, I expect degradation to CIA's intelligence production.
I recognize the importance that the President attaches to curbing Federal
employm cnt and I fully support him. At the same time I believe it equally
important to be provided with the critial skills necessary to maintain
national security.
I am, of course, prepared to meet tivith you personally to discuss
this request in greater detail..
Yours,
William J. Casey
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