The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) uses different processes under various statutory authorities to hire employees by type, such as permanent full-time employees and temporary reservists. Additionally, FEMA uses hiring flexibilities to hire employees for critical positions and augments its workforce if a disaster or emergency exceeds FEMA’s capacity, such as with local hires and contractors, among others. However, GAO found FEMA has challenges calculating and reporting consistent and accurate timeframes for hiring to DHS. Documenting consistent methods would help FEMA accurately calculate its timeframes for hiring and use more reliable information to determine potential workforce changes needed to better prepare for future emergencies.
