OPM director launches merit-based hiring and incentive reforms

Scott Cooper, Director of the Office of Personnel Management, is implementing sweeping reforms to federal talent management and incentive structures. Cooper, a former A16Z employee, argues that the current system is broken, citing that 99.7% of employees historically received performance ratings of 3 or above, and 90% of senior executives received top ratings. He has implemented a rule limiting top performance rankings to 40% of the population, with 60% of the compensation pool allocated to this group. Cooper is also eliminating tenure-based barriers to promotion to create a merit-based culture. To address a demographic imbalance where only 7% of the federal workforce is under 30 compared to 23% in the total U.S. workforce, OPM launched the TechForce program. This initiative recruits 1,000 software engineers, AI experts, and data scientists for two-year terms at the GS-14 level, using third-party technical assessments rather than self-rated questionnaires. The program partners with 40 private companies, including Alphabet, Meta, and Databricks, for training and career development. Cooper also announced a college tour to recruit early-career talent, rejecting the traditional pitch of lifetime employment in favor of short-term, high-impact stints. He argues that federal stagnation is caused by risk-averse incentive structures and outdated hiring criteria, not a lack of talent.