As the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) pushes to revolutionize medical treatments and cures, it’s facing a challenge that no amount of cutting-edge science can solve – attracting the talent that the agency needs.
According to a recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), ARPA-H faces two main challenges in recruiting its scientific workforce: competition with the private sector for specialized talent, and a limited pool of diverse candidates with the necessary experience.
“ARPA-H does not have a workforce planning process to guide its recruitment and hiring efforts,” the report reads. “A strategic workforce planning process would help ensure the agency avoids skills gaps,” GAO said.
The Federal watchdog noted that a strategic workforce planning process is crucial for agencies with science and technology missions, as they must compete with the private sector for talent and stay ahead of rapid scientific advancements.
Despite these challenges, the health research agency is actively pursuing proven recruitment strategies, as acknowledged by GAO. These include outreach to Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic-serving institutions, as well as offering targeted financial incentives.
However, ARPA-H officials told the GAO that there is no concrete evidence yet on whether these recruitment strategies have effectively addressed the agency’s challenges. In response, the GAO emphasized the importance of collecting data to evaluate the success of these efforts, as this would help “ARPA-H make more informed progress toward its workforce objectives.”
GAO made three recommendations, including that ARPA-H develop a workforce planning process and assess scientific personnel data to help ensure its recruitment efforts are effective.
ARPA-H concurred with the watchdog’s recommendations.
