Is the National Nuclear Enterprise Workforce Postured to Modernize the Triad? Insights and Options from a Quick-turn Assessment

Laura Werber
Bok · Engelsk · 2022

Utgitt	RAND Corporation , 2022
Opplysninger	Since the end of the Cold War, the health of the national nuclear enterprise workforce has been a matter of abiding concern to senior U.S. officials. The two government agencies with principal responsibility for this workforce-the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)-have had to contend with adverse demographic trends, recruitment and retention challenges, and intense competition for specific skills and expertise, especially in scientific and engineering fields, to maintain a workforce with the capabilities and experience needed for nuclear-related duties. This report summarizes the results of a quick-turn, 90-day assessment of the health of the national nuclear enterprise workforce, focusing on federal personnel working in acquisition and scientific, technical, engineering, and math occupations. The study team used a mixed methods approach that relied primarily on extant data to consider workforce health in terms of workforce planning, recruiting and hiring, employee engagement and development, leader development, and morale and retention. The report features findings about enterprise strengths, such as promising practices that are candidates for broader use, and those about factors that challenge workforce health, such as evolving demand for more and different talent in light of simultaneous modernization and sustainment needs. The study team also offers recommendations to bolster the health of the nuclear enterprise workforce, both now and over the next decade.