In 2022, Chief Moore called on the Forest Service to seize the moment to build our workforce for the future. The challenge was clear: Forest Service hiring had not kept pace with attrition, and we needed to attract and retain employees at a rate that would grow our agency. The passing of significant legislation gave us the rare opportunity to increase the size of our federal workforce to meet additional workload demands created by major initiatives like the Wildfire Crisis Strategy. 

Since 2022, we have kicked off several initiatives to implement an enterprise approach to strategic recruitment so the agency represents the American public we serve:

• We established the National Recruitment and Hiring Collaborative to focus on reviewing, modifying and removing barriers to outreach, recruitment and hiring systems. The collaborative held its first National Recruitment Hiring Conference in January 2023, leading to the creation of a core team and three subcommittees—one for communications and branding, one for data analytics and one for youth programs. Chief Moore and Associate Chief Coleman attended the conference to reinforce the importance of recruitment and preparedness to face the challenges of the future.  

• By partnering with organizations like the Natural Areas Association, Women of Color in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), Society of American Foresters, Society of Range Management and Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences, we can build relationships in local communities and highlight that we are a nationwide employer of choice. In 2022 and 2023, we hired more permanent employees than we lost—over 3,100.

• The National Recruitment team worked hand-in-hand with the department to plan and organize various veterans and military spouses hiring events. These events allowed the agency to utilize direct or non-competitive hiring authorities to hire veterans, veterans with disabilities or military spouses.

• Beyond direct hiring and partnerships, the agency made large-scale, systemic changes in the way we share job announcements and career information. We updated our website, establishing a Career map showing all positions on USAJobs and our outreach database. We also listed all student or youth programs implemented by USDA and/or the Forest Service, webpages of most positions (career fields) in the agency with pictures and videos depicting work of the position, and webpages for pay, benefits and career growth (work environment enhancements. We also began to meet students where they are, signing a contract that allows recruiters to use Handshake to send consistent campaigns for job opportunities and connect to over 13 million students.

We have more actions underway, including improving our use of social media to connect directly with candidates and completing a revised Outreach and Recruitment Plan for a national strategy that will be implemented by recruiters throughout the agency.

This sounds like a lot, but it’s all pieces to a much larger puzzle. These teams and initiatives are steps on the road to a more representative workforce of all the communities and people we serve. As we continue to evolve, these teams will work together, each effort feeding into the next.

Building our workforce for the future is more than a human resources or recruitment initiative. It’s a Forest Service initiative, and every single one of us plays a role in its success. What can you do? Be open as we try new things and break down old barriers. As you welcome new employees to your unit, keep in mind that we’re never just filling a position, we’re also launching or growing a career.

We know that building the workforce is about more than growing our numbers. We also need to foster each individual’s career—not just recruitment and hiring, but onboarding, training and retention. It’s a win-win: When we support and develop employees over time, they become a workforce able to meet future challenges.

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