The Foreign Service Journal, September 2017

16 SEPTEMBER 2017 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Over the past five to 10 years, State has reduced overseas officer positions with the knowledge that qualified and talented EFMs could fill these positions with sav- ings to the department. For example, the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs abolished the U.S. direct-hire HR deputy position for Japan and replaced it with an EFMHR assistant position (under the Expanded Professional Associates Program). That EFM just left post, and we cannot refill behind her; she handled some criti- cal portfolios (e.g., employee evaluation reports, EFM employment, duty roster, seasonal hire program, bidding coordi- nation and VIP control room coordina- tion, among others). This work will now fall, along with everything else, on one human resources officer. Around the world, a similar story is playing out across many embassy offices. From a personal perspective, my wife applied for an EFM position, and her nepotism review was complete and clear- ance investigation ongoing when the hir- ing freeze took effect. Now she is unable to follow through with her appointment and, as a result, will not be able to join the Family Reserve Corps when we leave Tokyo. Many other families have similar concerns. Ken Meyer Tokyo, Japan We are being discarded I am a proud father and a “trailing spouse.” I am also a business execu- tive with more than 20 years of experi- ence. During our family’s first three assignments—in Seoul, New Delhi and Frankfurt—I was fortunate to maintain my own career, successfully transition- ing from Canon USA to Canon Korea, then to Canon India and later, during our assignment in Frankfurt, working under contract for Canon India. This all changed when my wife was assigned to Beijing. According to State Department regulations, family mem- bers are not allowed to work on the local economy there because there is no bilat- eral work agreement. I recognized that my only opportu- nity to be employed during our four-year assignment would be to work within the embassy. I embraced this opportunity and successfully completed the Basic Consular Course. I had applied for, interviewed and accepted a job offer from the Consular section in Beijing prior to the federal hiring freeze taking effect. EFMs are proud trailing spouses, yet we are also professionals, possess- ing a sense of devotion to the mission and a desire to be productive members of society. We feel let down. We have proudly served and endured sacrifices, but now we feel that we are being dis- carded. Eugenio Otero-Meléndez Beijing, People’s Republic of China Waiting it out in Baghdad I am serving as Embassy Baghdad’s Security Force branch chief in Iraq. My wife planned to join me—it’s part of the reason why we bid on the position. She is still waiting on the next round of EFM waiver positions to be filled with a January 2018 start date. If she decides to take one of these positions, we will have to extend for her to complete her manda- tory 10 months of employment. I understand the reasons behind the hiring freeze, but it seems that State has taken it further than needed. I hope that we can get this resolved soon. Tony Pate Baghdad, Iraq Should we stay in the Service? My wife is assigned to a communist country where there are obvious security reasons for cleared Americans to perform a range of functions. We bid on this post in part because of its reputation for offer- ing solid EFM employment. I have more than 20 years of experience in a field analogous to a general services officer, and secured a job prior to arrival at post, pending a security clearance. The revalidation of my clearance was not completed before the hiring freeze took effect. The job I was to fill remains empty, and the work undone. We are now trying to sort out the best course of action for our family. Should my wife curtail and return to the United States? Does it make sense for our family to remain in the Foreign Service? Recent FLO statistics indicate that just 25 percent of EFMs are male, which tells me that even in 2017, men are still reluctant to be the “trailing spouse.” As with our family, I can’t help but think a prolonged hiring freeze will have a disproportionate impact on retention of women in the Foreign Service. Not for attribution Personnel and personal The EFM hiring freeze has greatly affected me, both personally and profes- sionally. Professionally, we are short-staffed in our Consular section, where both American Citizen Services and visa applicant numbers continue to rise. One of our consular assistant EFM hires had received her clearance, and we were just about to bring her onboard, but have not been able to do so because of the freeze. We had also just received qualified candidates for a consular associate posi- tion, but have not been able to continue