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19h ago

NOAA Authorized to Hire 450 Staff to Bolster National Weather Service

Under a public safety exemption, the Office of Personnel Management granted direct hiring authority to fill critical gaps that left forecast offices unable to maintain round-the-clock operations.

After Deep Doge Cuts, National Weather Service Gets Ok to Fill Up to 450 Jobs
Image
This July 2024 photo shows a hurricane specialist at the National Weather Service's hurricane center in Miami.
A National Weather Service office in Grand Forks, N.D.

Overview

  • NOAA can directly recruit up to 450 meteorologists, hydrologists and radar technicians, including 126 pre-approved front-line mission-critical positions.
  • The hiring authority was granted through an OPM public safety exemption to circumvent the federal freeze and address urgent staffing shortages.
  • DOGE-era cuts and early retirement incentives earlier this year slashed NWS staffing by more than 550, reducing its workforce below 4,000 employees.
  • Chronic understaffing had forced several field offices to curtail regional forecasts and weather balloon launches, raising concerns during hurricane season and after July’s deadly Texas floods.
  • Veteran forecasters warn that training new hires and navigating federal hiring processes may take months, limiting near-term relief for current hurricane and wildfire response.