Quantitative and Qualitative Hiring Freeze Outcomes at the U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command

Abstract

Unanticipated hiring freezes impose considerable constraints on organizations and their employees by hindering the ability to find or cultivate talent to fulfill shifting demands. This study focuses on hiring freezes and how they affect organizations in the Department of Defense (DoD), specifically the Army Missions and Installation Contracting Command (MICC). In this paper, we discuss potential consequences and the effects of hiring freezes on the MICC. In order to observe these effects, we gathered data from the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) to perform a statistical analysis on employees and their changes in labor market outcomes such as attrition, promotion, and productivity during periods when a DoD hiring freeze was in effect and periods when organizations were permitted to fill vacant staff positions, and conducted an online survey to gauge the MICC employees current perceptions of their working environment. Overall, we found that hiring freeze periods had an effect on the MICC, but we are unsure of the magnitude of their impact. However, based on our data, the factors that contributed to voluntary turnover at the MICC were poor command climate, job burnout, and low levels of job satisfaction.