The Foreign Service Journal, March 2020

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2020 17 The 97 Percent: OIG Finds Lasting Impact of Hiring Freeze T he State Department Office of the Inspector General released a report on Jan. 22 stating that “staffing gaps, frequent turnover, poor leadership, and inexperienced and undertrained staff fre- quently contribute to the Department’s other management challenges,” and that “workforce management issues are per- vasive, affecting programs and operations domestically and overseas.” The OIG found that the 16-month hir- ing freeze implemented by the admin- istration shortly after President Trump took office is still affecting department operations. All 38 bureaus and offices that responded to an OIG survey, and 97 per- cent of embassies and missions overseas, reported that the hiring freeze was having a somewhat or major negative impact on employee morale. “Employees told OIG that the hiring freeze contributed to excessive work- loads, and the lack of transparency about K ennanX is a new podcast, put together by the Kennan Insti- tute (part of the WoodrowWilson International Center for Scholars), that is dedicated to educating listeners about Russia, Ukraine and the surrounding region. The host is Jill Dougherty, who during her three-decade career at CNN served as a foreign affairs correspondent covering the State Department. KennanX has released two fascinating podcasts so far. The first, a discussion of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor melt- down and its legacy, features Craig Mazin, creator and producer of HBO’s Chernobyl; Serhii Plokhii, director of the Ukraine Research Institute at Harvard University; Masha Gessen, staff writer at the New Yorker ; and Maxim Trudolyubov, senior adviser at the Kennan Insti- tute and editor-in-chief of the Wilson Center’s blog, The Russia File. The second is a discussion about arms control and the importance of the New START nuclear weapons treaty between the United States Podcast of the Month: KennanX and Russia, with diplomats Rose Gottemoeller and John Beyrle. The Kennan Institute is a U.S. center for advanced research on Russia and Eurasia. It is the oldest and largest regional program at the WoodrowWilson International Center for Scholars. The Institute was co-founded in 1974 as a joint initiative of Ambassador George F. Kennan, then Wilson Center Director James Billington and historian S. Frederick Starr. The Wilson Center features several additional podcasts, includ- ing Need to Know, which shares nonpartisan foreign policy expertise, the Russian History Audio Archive and Global Women’s Leadership Initiative. Visit wilsoncenter.org/collection/ kennanx-podcast or wilsoncenter.org/ wilson-center-podcasts. AFSPA afspa.org/aip afspa.org/dental afspa.org/life Chambers Theory chamberstheory.com Clements Worldwide clements.com Federal Employees Defense Services fedsprotection.com Jack Realty Group jackrealtygroup.com/ state.php Property Specialists, Inc. propertyspecialistsinc.com Richey Property Management richeypm.com Windecker Financial Planning windeckerfp.pro WJD Management wjdpm.com