OPM memo pushes agencies to speed up hiring with AI

After the federal government lost thousands of workers last year, the Office of Personnel Management released guidelines to help agencies safely use artificial intelligence that would speed up lengthy hiring procedures.

“We owe job applicants and taxpayers a faster, better hiring process, and AI is an obvious step,” wrote Adam Starr, OPM’s chief information officer, in a blog post. “It currently takes on average a whopping 87 days to hire in the federal government. Clearly, the current process is not working.”

Agencies should review AI involved in hiring processes and determine whether they are “high-impact” or “presumed high-impact,” according to a memo released on Thursday. High-impact use cases are ones where AI “output serves as a principal basis for decisions or actions with legal, material, binding, or significant effect on” civil rights, privacy, access to critical government programs, critical infrastructure, public safety and more, according to the document sent to agency heads.

For high-impact cases, agencies must either implement “minimum risk management practices” or request that their chief AI officer waive some of those requirements, according to OPM.

If an agency determines a presumed high-impact AI application does not meet the definition of high-impact, it must submit written notification to the CAIO. That documentation should describe controls like human review, sampling and audit logs, and performance monitoring, the memo recommends.

In determining the appropriate response, agencies should start by reviewing whether AI is presumed high-impact or high-impact, the memo explains.

Presumed high-impact cases could include AI tools that draft job descriptions, qualification requirements, evaluation statements, interview questions and other materials, according to the document. But OPM generally does not consider AI used to draft those materials high-impact because they are usually not the “principal basis for a decision or action,” it adds.

The presumed high-impact cases category could also include AI tools that screen resumes, review documents to determine veterans’ eligibility and score candidates, it continues. Agencies should consider whether these AI tools serve as the “principal basis” for hiring decisions and actions and therefore are high-impact, the memo explains. The AI tools typically would not fall in the high-impact category if a human independently reviews a hiring candidate’s record or other safeguards are in place.

Federal agencies have already begun using AI to hire employees. A General Services Administration official has recently said AI helps HR officials and hiring managers quickly develop General Schedule job classifications, according to Government Executive.

In addition to the memo, OPM is looking to bring AI features to USA JOBS, USA Staffing and USA Hire. Those features will include improved search capability, plain language job titles and descriptions, and other tools to help job seekers connect with federal openings, according to Starr.