With TV commercials airing during the Olympics and a $12.4 million ad campaign in English and Spanish, the Department of Veterans Affairs hopes to reach out to and recruit 105,000 new employees within the next two years, according to The Washington Post.According to VA Deputy Secretary W. Scott Gould, the department plans to hire a combination of medical professionals and clerical employees to fill roughly 105,000 openings by the end of 2011. The total includes around 90,000 people to replace retiring workers, 10,000 new hires this year and another 5,700 in 2011, Gould said.
In addition to new personnel, Gould said VA is looking to streamline its internal processes, which would result in a more “customer-friendly” department.
While some job seekers may have concerns about the backlog when it comes to federal hiring, Gould said VA aims to get back to applicants within 60 days; however, the current number is more than 100 days.
“This is a tremendous misalignment between our aspiration, what we think needs to be done to match the best in the private sector and the best in the private sector–IBM, a company that can do it in 60 days. We’re at 102. We have to do a lot of training,” Gould said.
