{"id":25418,"date":"2023-03-01T22:01:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-01T22:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/03\/01\/opm-extends-pandemic-era-hiring-authority-once-more\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:06:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:06:09","slug":"opm-extends-pandemic-era-hiring-authority-once-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/career-management\/2023\/03\/01\/opm-extends-pandemic-era-hiring-authority-once-more\/","title":{"rendered":"OPM extends pandemic-era hiring authority once more"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On the day it was set to expire, the Coronavirus Schedule A Hiring Authority was renewed for likely the final time, the Office of Personnel Management announced on March 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three years ago this month, OPM gave federal agencies the power to expedite hiring<\/a> of workers into the excepted service at any grade level to fill employment needs arising out of the pandemic. Since then, the authority has been extended several times,<\/a> as it was again on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, it will expire when the public health emergency is expected to end on May 11.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOPM understands that during this time, agencies need more tools to conduct strategic, targeted hiring for specific, short-term roles to meet mission and\/or hiring needs,\u201d wrote Director Kiran Ahuja in the memo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hiring authorities were one of several emergency resources used in 2020 and authorized by the $2 trillion CARES Act in response to the pandemic. Federal agencies received supplemental funds to sustain crucial public operations through the pandemic and dispatch employees to the front lines. In March 2020, OPM also authorized the use of the COVID-19 Schedule A hiring authority to fill positions for up to one year with a possible extension.<\/p>\n\n\n\t