MANPOWER UTILIZATION IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TUESDAY, MAY 21, 1963 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON MANPOWER UTILIZATION OF THE Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to adjournment, at 10 a.m., in room 215, House Office Building, Hon. David N. Henderson (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Mr. HENDERSON. The subcommittee will please come to order. We are continuing today the hearings relating to the control and utilization of civilian manpower in the Federal Government. Yesterday we heard from the Under Secretary of the Army and his representatives, along with our own distinguished colleague, Hon. William G. Bray. We are glad to welcome back before the subcommittee the Deputy Director of the Bureau of the Budget, the Honorable Elmer Staats and later this morning we will have the Chairman of the Civil Service Commission, the Honorable John Macy. I will explain for the benefit of the subcommittee members that Mr. Macy called, he may be a few minutes late, because he was called to attend a Cabinet meeting at the White House this morning. Before we hear from Mr. Staats, who will be followed later by Chairman Macy, as I said, I wish to indicate our subcommittee is quite pleased with some of the reports we have received from the departments and agencies regarding more effective control and utilization of manpower. At the same time we also noted with considerable interest that there are now 135,500 more people on the Federal payroll than there were in January of 1961. This fact alone obviously gives us, as members of this subcommittee, cause to question both the representatives whom we will be hearing from this morning. Our subcommittee is also continuing to receive numerous complaints from Federal workers concerning the personnel promotional program, new policies regarding step increases in pay, and the hiring of retired military into civilian jobs. These items will be directed especially to Chairman Macy. Mr. Staats, again I welcome you and your colleagues and you may proceed. 303 STATEMENT OF ELMER B. STAATS, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, BUREAU OF THE BUDGET; ACCOMPANIED BY HAROLD SEIDMAN, ACTING ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION; GORDON OSBORN, CHIEF, MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT AND RESEARCH BRANCH; AND WILLIAM WOLFREY, BUDGET METHODS SPECIALIST Mr. STAATS. Mr. Chairman, it is a pleasure to appear before this committee. We have had many very helpful suggestions from the committee in hearings on this subject in the past and we hope we can continue to work closely together. It seems to me we have a common objective the best utilization of manpower to carry on the Government's essential work. I have a fairly long statement, Mr. Chairman. It isn't quite as long as it might appear, in that we have some attachments, one of which is an effort to explain a point that you covered in your introductory remarks, that is, relating to the explanation of employment increases in the principal agencies from January 1961 to January 1963; and another, which explains the changes from 1963 fiscal year to 1964. There has been, it seems to me, quite a large number of developments on this subject since our last hearing before the committee and if I may, I would like to read substantial portions of this statement. I believe we have quite a lot here that reflects significant developments. Mr. HENDERSON. Without objection, the entire statement and your attachments will be printed in the record and we will be delighted for you to proceed as you desire. Mr. STAATS. I appreciate the opportunity to discuss with you the civilian manpower policies, programs, and problems in the executive branch. We welcome your interest and assure you that the Bureau of the Budget is concerned with the problems involved in staffing the agencies so that essential programs can be carried out with dispatch and yet without waste of manpower. There has been a great deal of misunderstanding about the size of the Federal civilian work force and I would like to begin by clearing up as much of this misunderstanding as possible. The committee is well aware of the strong convictions held by many people on the level of Federal employment. You are also aware of the frequent criticism that is aimed at us because employment is going up. We are well aware of the fact that employment is increasing; but we are also well aware of the fact that this increase is necessary to meet the constantly rising workload, the new programs resulting from legislation passed by the Congress, the steady growth of both our population and our economy, the pressures of world conditions, and the complexities of modern technology. One of the chief problems we in the executive branch face is attempting to get public understanding of the fact that all these factors are forcing the Federal work force upward. We also experience a lack of understanding of the fact that we are doing our best to hold employment to the minimum consistent with doing an effective job. We have placed great emphasis on improvements in productivity and in more effective utilization of manpower. The fact is that the Federal workload has grown at a much greater rate than employment, and we are very proud that we have been successful in holding manpower down as much as we have. The efforts of the agencies in recent years to increase pro ductivity have produced significant results. In the Post Office Department, the output increased 2.1 percent in 1962, but the number of hours worked increased only 0.4 percent. Therefore, if the Post Office had not been able to increase productivity, they would have to have 10,000 more employees this year than we actually have just to handle the increase in volume. A comparison of the rise in executive branch civilian employment in recent years with that of other expanding factors in the economy is quite revealing. Let's look at a few examples: În 1954, there were 146 Federal civilian employees for every 10,000 people in the Nation; in 1962, there were only 133. In 1954, there were 276 State and local government employees for every 10,000 citizens; in 1962, there were 370. From 1954 to 1962 the population of the country increased by 14.5 percent, while Federal civilian employment increased only 4.3 percent. Federal budget expenditures accounted for 18.6 percent of the gross national product in 1954; in 1962, only 16.3 percent. The cost of civilian personnel accounted for the same percentage of the gross national product in 1962 as it had in 1954 (2.6 percent). During the 2-year period January 1961 to January 1963, while executive branch employment rose 5 percent, judicial branch employment rose 12 percent, legislative branch employment, 4.9 percent; and State and local government employment, 8.3 percent. Let me repeat a few facts that Director Gordon gave when he spoke to the American Society of Newspaper Editors. These are, we believe, a good indication of what is happening to our workload. Between the fiscal years 1962 and 1964 the volume of mail will grow 6.4 percent, the number of veterans or survivors receiving pensions will rise by 10 percent, aircraft landings and takeoffs at airports with Federal towers will go up by 11 percent, beneficiaries under the old-age and survivors insurance program will increase by 16 percent, the number of patents granted will rise by 20 percent, and passports issued will increase by 25 percent. In none of these cases is the increase in employment as much for the whole department as these increases in workload for individual programs, which those departments have responsibility for. During the past 2 years-January 31, 1961, to January 31, 1963-total employment in the executive branch has gone up 116,300 employees as you indicated, or an increase of 5 percent. This is a lot of people, we know, but this is a big country, growing rapidly in a tense and complex world and it takes people to do the Government's work. In this 2-year period since the change in administrations, the Post Office has experienced a 3.8-percent increase in the volume of mail handled, while Post Office employment has risen only 2.8 percent. The Forest Service had to provide for 102 million visitor-days in 1962, a figure which had not been anticipated before 1970. The National Park Service in 1962 experienced a 24.5-percent increase in the use of the national parks over calendar year 1960. The State Department has had to expand its activities to provide representation for the United States in many new nations of the world, primarily in Africa. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration accounts for an increase of 10,000 people in this period, resulting from the decision to put a man on the moon in this decade. Defense Department employment, in response to the Berlin crisis and other international tensions, rose by 28,000 during this period. However, Secretary McNamara is anticipating an increase in productivity this year and next. Through this more effective utilization of manpower, he plans to reduce employment in his Department by 5,000 this year and by 10,000 more next year. I have attached to this statement a detailed explanation of changes in executive branch civilian employment for the period January 31, 1961, to January 31, 1963. EXPLANATION OF CHANGES IN EXECUTIVE BRANCH CIVILIAN EMPLOYMENT, January 31, 1961, To JANUARY 31, 1963 Regular civilian employment in the executive branch rose from 2,341,100 in January 1961 to 2,457,400 in January 1963. This is an increase of 116,300 or 5 percent. The January 1963 total does not include 8,700 project workers who have been hired under the accelerated public works program for very brief periods. The increase of 116,300 in executive branch employment during the last 2 years is the result of two major trends. One is a continuation of the inevitable growth of Government activities that are affected by the growth of the population, the problems arising in the economy, and the pressure of world events. The other is the result of some new programs and some changes in emphasis instituted by this administration. During the same 24-month period that executive branch employment went up 5 percent, employment in the legislative branch rose 4.9 percent while employment in the judiciary rose 12 percent. State and local government employment also rose about 9.5 percent between 1960 and 1962. Over 80 percent of the increase in civilian employment in the executive branch over the past 24 months was in eight agencies: Civilian employment of the executive branch, January 1961 and January 1963 |