As the increase in acting roles makes waves in the political appointment sphere of government, career officials are also seeing their share of vacancies. A report by the CHCO Council says that senior executives are leaving in droves, which could leave behind a huge knowledge vacuum. Brodi Fontenot, former chief human capital officer at the Transportation Department and CEO of Fontenot Strategic Consulting, says that there are a few reasons why they’re all leaving now.
“There’s been talk for some time about a sort of demographic tidal wave. That is part of the issue, but I do think it’s just part… OPM does surveys of executives when they leave. They point out that many of them are actually going to other jobs in either the private sector or the public sector. Not all of them are going to the golf course, some of them want to participate,” Fontenot said. “Secondly, I really think it is the environment. It’s really been a tough several years. There have been government shutdowns, programs have been significantly realigned. Is the expertise of these officials still being used in the way it was intended long term?”
