全球智库信息集成服务系统

• The DoD CIO developed an employment and compensation questionnaire to identify cyber labor shortages. However, the responses provided to this questionnaire were generally incomplete and inconsistent, making it difficult to identify overall shortages.
• Evidence suggests high turnover and substantial vacancies for Cyber Operators in U.S. Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command and for Authorizing Official/Designating Representative in the U.S. Navy's U.S. Fleet Cyber Command. There also is evidence that there were substantial public-private differences in pay in some areas (e.g., cyber civilians in the Seattle local pay area). In these cases, the use of compensation flexibilities might be warranted.
• DoD civilian cyber workers are older and less likely to have a college degree; therefore, they potentially have more years of experience than private-sector cyber workers. DoD civilian cyber workers also are more likely to be U.S. citizens and to be veterans. Gender representation and average weekly work hours are similar.
• There is a DoD civilian pay premium at hiring for all the roles we examined; however, over time, a private-sector pay premium almost always emerges.

In 2016, Congress created the Cyber Excepted Service (CES) and granted the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) flexibilities when setting compensation to support the recruitment and retention of personnel who are critical to the DoD cyber warfare mission. To justify a market-based permanent pay adjustment, there must be evidence that existing compensation is insufficient to attract and retain a required number of qualified employees. A persistent labor shortage signifies that compensation is insufficient and can be identified by high employee turnover or difficulty in filling posted vacancies.

In this report, the authors analyze the labor demand and supply for seven DoD cyber work roles that were collectively identified as high priority by the service components and the Office of the DoD Chief Information Officer (CIO). The authors provide a framework for adjusting pay according to economic theory, identify private-sector occupational counterparts for the seven work roles, discuss findings from DoD employment and compensation questionnaires completed by CES organizations, compare characteristics and life-cycle pay between DoD cyber civilians and their private-sector counterparts, and make recommendations for the DoD CIO when setting compensation policy.

• Chapter One

  Introduction

• Chapter Two

  Comparison of Federal Civilian and Private-Sector Compensation

• Chapter Three

  Cyber Work Role Shortages in CES-Covered Agencies

• Chapter Four

  Linking Select CES Work Roles to Private-Sector Occupations

• Chapter Five

  DoD Civilian Cyber Worker and Private-Sector Cyber Worker Comparisons

• Chapter Six

  Conclusions, Considerations, and Recommendations

• Appendix A

  Data Sources

• Appendix B

  Technical Details

• Appendix C

  Detailed Pay Trajectory Data by Locality