Defense Workforce: Opportunities for More Effective Management and Efficiencies

Careful consideration must be paid to the necessary size and skillset of the Department of Defense’s (DOD) workforce. Prior cuts resulted in unintended consequences of significant imbalances in terms of skills and retirement eligibility.

This statement summarizes the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) prior work on DOD’s challenges in managing its workforce and the opportunities GAO has identified for DOD to be more effective and efficient in managing its workforce to achieve its mission.