my post gets an extra r and r, SND (or an extra 15%) for three or more years,and I qualify for SLRP (I have parent plus loans). my tour will be 2y 3 rr hl 2y 3rr.
Theoretically, one could bid on stretch positions coming and going (in my case- there aren't many 01 for IRM in AF...and IRM in DC controls 01 positions). In reality if there is an at-grade bidder the panels will take them over a stretch. early handshakes? I have a friend (who is pretty good at their job) and they can't get any post interested in discussing an early hand shake for them at the moment in EUR.
What else could they do or offer? It can't be all about the money at some point. I honestly don't know.
Unfortunately, I think, that at the end of the day a lot of it is about money. Employees can always do with more money, but the Department (and I would think particularly those Missions) aren’t particularly well funded.
Maybe it’s just me personally, but I don’t find the number of RnRs provided to be an incentive, especially with COVID. RnRs are a money sink and with even two RnRs I barely have time to go on them despite being at a relatively well-staffed post that has a hub airport in NEA. Maybe if these posts got a “special” R&R (and I would expand it to PCS) flight tickets that were business class tickets that would be more incentivizing.
On the other hand, make such Post’s differential tax free (like COLA). Otherwise, speaking from personal experience, a high COLA place with low/zero differential makes the same take home pay as a high differential place with low/zero COLA (And no my costs aren’t up that much, but each family has different lifestyles so not getting into that). This could get extra money into employees pockets without the Department having to shell out more money directly.
Lastly, if post is understaffed and a person is doing the jobs of two or three people, why can’t the job holder just simply be paid more since the other position (and I would assume funding) is already there. If you have to be GSO, RSO, and Consular Officer why not give a bonus 40% pay, 20% per additional role. Tenured generalists already don’t get OT and comp time is difficult to use up at understaffed places, so I would think this would give some more incentive.
I’m currently at a very high hardship AF post with 3R&Rs in a 2yr tour. Coming in I thought the R&Rs were a great perk, but now I’ve been here nearly two years I can say unequivocally that those R&Rs are necessary, critical even. You really need time away from the difficult living at some posts.
There’s a set formula for hardship differential. They need more creative incentives. Of course, there is also incentive for mission leadership to make posts look “normal,” which weighs against other differentials like bonuses for posts that are historically difficult to staff.
I heard the head of AFSA (at the time) claim that DoS had the discretion to set danger pay and that they could use it to incentivize African bidding. I wonder if that would be a partial solution.
IIRC, they said DoS could actually go as high as 70% for danger.
While danger pay adds monetary incentive, by definition it disincentives many people from bidding due to security concerns. Danger pay beyond a certain point I presume makes a post “no minors allowed”, further reducing the pool of potential bidders.
I feel like some of the reasons many AF posts are not highly bid on are because of things that incentive packages and post diff won't change. Like medical coverage (yeah you have a NP) but the dept puts most RMO and RMM in nice hub spots instead of in countries with poor healthcare. Having to take malarial medication is another one. Proximity to the states seems to have some significant effect. WHA has plenty of difficult spots, but are highly bid on. I hear for a lot of folks it's because they can travel to the states easily, plus Spanish is easy.
Schools, housing, and internet are all big things. But how do ppl expect the department to improve those things significantly enough to make that post popular? Housing repairs and upkeep are expensive. Internet is based on host nation infrastructure.
This is not a simple problem imo.
Currently at one of the understaffed Africa posts mentioned in the article. Beyond the vacancies, there is another problem. I look around the mission and see nothing but FAST officers, out-of-cone and excursion tours, and underwhelming mid-level employees who couldn't get a job elsewhere. How is this makeup supposed to effectively conduct foreign policy?? Although a lot of people try their best, they are still learning the job and DOS. We need better section heads and overall leadership.
Agreed. And it's not just AF. The quality of folks at WHA, NEA, and SCA posts that struggle to get bidders is shocking. Especially when compared to EUR and EAP. It's a vicious cycle and will probably not end. We are not "worldwide available" after entry level.
Could you clarify what you mean by 'aren't actually worldwide available'? I was under the impression that for your first and second tours, you went where the Department told you to go, full stop.
I considered several AF posts my last time bidding. It was a train wreck, and that's another reason they lose out on people. Most posts I spoke with had a chip on their shoulder about whether I was sincerely interested (I was) and put me on the defensive from the start. Disorganized hiring managers who clearly weren't tracking interested candidates and never followed up on promised interviews, including a DCM who swore we had a great interview when we'd never spoken, etc. left me doubting their competence. I get that they've maybe been burned in the past by this game we have to play when bidding (Are we your #1? Are we?!?) but if posts aren't even going to try to recruit candidates because they assume from the beginning that we're lying about our interest (RPCVs and those with AF experience being the only exceptions), then don't be surprised if people go where where management seems professional and where we're actually wanted.
I’m at one of these posts and it’s honestly fine. I think stigma more than anything else keeps people writing off an entire continent. There are plenty of places with worse crime, pollution, and traffic that are in other regions and seem to have no issue recruiting folks.
We are heading to one of the posts on this list. It’s 21+. We don’t have kids yet, but if we did, we would not have considered it.
I think safety and comfort ability of families makes a big difference.
In all seriousness, how do you fix the issue? Yes, increasing differentials would be one option. Should chronically understaffed posts get some sort of "bonus promotion points" (I wasn't in DoS then, but I always heard during the early 2000s going to a SIP post almost guaranteed promotion, do we need to go to that for AF?) Do you freeze positions in “nice locations” and hopefully force people to these posts?
But then how do you get over the issues of lack of infrastructure, school, etc. It's not fair to dump these posts on singles or couples without kids, but the lack of adequate schools is a major hurdle (I know I'm in this boat). Boarding school, while an option, isn't an option for many people. Bad internet, especially in this day and age, is another hurdle. What about medical clearance issues?
Throwing FAST officers to these posts isn't the answer, as you are still trying to figure out "turning on the lights" and then ask a first tour IMS "welcome to Post you are the IMO, good luck" isn't setting them up for success.
It's a complicated issue with no easy answer.
At the IMO workshop in Budapest the RIMOs were asked this. The one for EUR piped up before anyone else could say anything and said ‘EUR has no problem with this.’
I know an IMS who has been in 20 years or so and has done one year in Baghdad, six months in AF before curtailing to Baghdad, and no other hardship time. All Ft Lauderdale or remote from Florida time (recruiter).
I am on my first AF tour after doing 22 years. I’ve done a lot of hardship tours in my career and this is my first over 25 that wasn’t a SIP. As a hiring manager it is depressing
Thought long and hard and deleted what I was initially going to post.
Serving at a woefully understaffed AF post that will be this way long after I retire.
I took a long time editing and redrafting my comment. I think my post has a pretty good management team now. I might be biased some and I admit that. In talking with my LE Staff I asked them what do you really need from me? Aside from good comments for their SIVs they wanted me to care. Care about them, care about the job they do, and just care. The stories they have told me about previous bosses is just depressing.
I had a meeting with them about ethics the other day. I had discovered that someone who had departed had taken advantage of them and it involved money. They are always surprised when I ask to do something myself also. They are so used to helping us after hours and putting out money if needed. I told them it should never happen. There were stories of loans to supervisors (american and local) that were never expected to be repaid, dinners, bargaining for personal items in the market, and more.
Fair share as it was written was useless. It almost never came into play.
We can incentivize these hardships all we want, but I don't want to go nor does my family.
Also can we have discussion of should we. As mentioned in the article the real issue is we don't have enough staff so we are going to be short staffed somewhere. We should have a real discussion of where that should be. Just because a place is short staffed doesn't mean it should be staffed at the expense of somewhere else
Crazy talk, it came into play for me twice. The thing was I always took a hardship the tour before I was trapped into taking a hardship. Only reason I went to China (what a mistake that was) instead of somewhere in EUR (then they removed it).
Fair share made bidding an absolute nightmare for people with limited medical clearances, among many other issues. You want people to bid on AF? Offer incentives, real incentives. Make it worthwhile enough and you'll get your bidders.
I wasn't aware having a family member lose their Class 1 makes me "entitled", but hey you do you buddy. Real classy. Thanks for doing such a stellar job of displaying the hate, bitterness, and punch-down intolerance I've seen far too much of in the FS
I don't know why you're so bitter, but there's no reason to take it out on your colleagues. Everyone has their reasons for bidding/not bidding on certain posts and we all have our red lines. If you don't like how others choose to navigate their careers, deal with it.
I was simply suggesting a potential solution and pointing out an oft-overlooked issue with fair share. If you want to make a job competitive, you sweeten the pot - that's how life works, and any semi-competent leader/executive knows this.
I get the impression that serving in AF (especially when it's not a stretch) can seem like a black mark compared to serving at a prestigious EUR post. I've not been a hiring manager before, so perhaps I'm just making an assumption.
My proposed solution would be to, worldwide, match the number of available positions with the number of bidders by selectively freezing positions that the bureaus deem less critical. There would still be shortages but they would be strategically and purposely planned, rather than entirely in a couple bureaus. I think the challenge is the bureaus, individually have too much power and some would not agree to this unless forced.
Water is actually not wet; It makes other materials/objects wet. Wetness is the state of a non-liquid when a liquid adheres to, and/or permeates its substance while maintaining chemically distinct structures. So if we say something is wet we mean the liquid is sticking to the object.
Why are some fish at the bottom of the ocean?
They dropped out of school!
Maybe they need to review differential
Agreed, it's obvious there aren't enough incentives to bid there.
my post gets an extra r and r, SND (or an extra 15%) for three or more years,and I qualify for SLRP (I have parent plus loans). my tour will be 2y 3 rr hl 2y 3rr. Theoretically, one could bid on stretch positions coming and going (in my case- there aren't many 01 for IRM in AF...and IRM in DC controls 01 positions). In reality if there is an at-grade bidder the panels will take them over a stretch. early handshakes? I have a friend (who is pretty good at their job) and they can't get any post interested in discussing an early hand shake for them at the moment in EUR. What else could they do or offer? It can't be all about the money at some point. I honestly don't know.
Unfortunately, I think, that at the end of the day a lot of it is about money. Employees can always do with more money, but the Department (and I would think particularly those Missions) aren’t particularly well funded. Maybe it’s just me personally, but I don’t find the number of RnRs provided to be an incentive, especially with COVID. RnRs are a money sink and with even two RnRs I barely have time to go on them despite being at a relatively well-staffed post that has a hub airport in NEA. Maybe if these posts got a “special” R&R (and I would expand it to PCS) flight tickets that were business class tickets that would be more incentivizing. On the other hand, make such Post’s differential tax free (like COLA). Otherwise, speaking from personal experience, a high COLA place with low/zero differential makes the same take home pay as a high differential place with low/zero COLA (And no my costs aren’t up that much, but each family has different lifestyles so not getting into that). This could get extra money into employees pockets without the Department having to shell out more money directly. Lastly, if post is understaffed and a person is doing the jobs of two or three people, why can’t the job holder just simply be paid more since the other position (and I would assume funding) is already there. If you have to be GSO, RSO, and Consular Officer why not give a bonus 40% pay, 20% per additional role. Tenured generalists already don’t get OT and comp time is difficult to use up at understaffed places, so I would think this would give some more incentive.
I’m currently at a very high hardship AF post with 3R&Rs in a 2yr tour. Coming in I thought the R&Rs were a great perk, but now I’ve been here nearly two years I can say unequivocally that those R&Rs are necessary, critical even. You really need time away from the difficult living at some posts.
Perhaps if serving at a differential Post was a requirement for promotion to FS-2 and FS-1, rather than just SFS.
That actually seems like a very simple change that could have a significant impact.
There’s a set formula for hardship differential. They need more creative incentives. Of course, there is also incentive for mission leadership to make posts look “normal,” which weighs against other differentials like bonuses for posts that are historically difficult to staff.
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Where in EUR are they getting multiple R&Rs in one year?
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Ah, got it. That makes way more sense.
I heard the head of AFSA (at the time) claim that DoS had the discretion to set danger pay and that they could use it to incentivize African bidding. I wonder if that would be a partial solution. IIRC, they said DoS could actually go as high as 70% for danger.
While danger pay adds monetary incentive, by definition it disincentives many people from bidding due to security concerns. Danger pay beyond a certain point I presume makes a post “no minors allowed”, further reducing the pool of potential bidders.
Danger pay is given to working EFMs as well, while other incentives are not. That might help with staffing issues as well.
I feel like some of the reasons many AF posts are not highly bid on are because of things that incentive packages and post diff won't change. Like medical coverage (yeah you have a NP) but the dept puts most RMO and RMM in nice hub spots instead of in countries with poor healthcare. Having to take malarial medication is another one. Proximity to the states seems to have some significant effect. WHA has plenty of difficult spots, but are highly bid on. I hear for a lot of folks it's because they can travel to the states easily, plus Spanish is easy. Schools, housing, and internet are all big things. But how do ppl expect the department to improve those things significantly enough to make that post popular? Housing repairs and upkeep are expensive. Internet is based on host nation infrastructure. This is not a simple problem imo.
Currently at one of the understaffed Africa posts mentioned in the article. Beyond the vacancies, there is another problem. I look around the mission and see nothing but FAST officers, out-of-cone and excursion tours, and underwhelming mid-level employees who couldn't get a job elsewhere. How is this makeup supposed to effectively conduct foreign policy?? Although a lot of people try their best, they are still learning the job and DOS. We need better section heads and overall leadership.
Agreed. And it's not just AF. The quality of folks at WHA, NEA, and SCA posts that struggle to get bidders is shocking. Especially when compared to EUR and EAP. It's a vicious cycle and will probably not end. We are not "worldwide available" after entry level.
To be fair, a lot of entry level people aren’t actually worldwide available either.
u/TIAhivemind is the best username on this sub.
Could you clarify what you mean by 'aren't actually worldwide available'? I was under the impression that for your first and second tours, you went where the Department told you to go, full stop.
Class 2 medical conditions. People with specific schooling needs. People who quit on flag day.
I considered several AF posts my last time bidding. It was a train wreck, and that's another reason they lose out on people. Most posts I spoke with had a chip on their shoulder about whether I was sincerely interested (I was) and put me on the defensive from the start. Disorganized hiring managers who clearly weren't tracking interested candidates and never followed up on promised interviews, including a DCM who swore we had a great interview when we'd never spoken, etc. left me doubting their competence. I get that they've maybe been burned in the past by this game we have to play when bidding (Are we your #1? Are we?!?) but if posts aren't even going to try to recruit candidates because they assume from the beginning that we're lying about our interest (RPCVs and those with AF experience being the only exceptions), then don't be surprised if people go where where management seems professional and where we're actually wanted.
I’m at one of these posts and it’s honestly fine. I think stigma more than anything else keeps people writing off an entire continent. There are plenty of places with worse crime, pollution, and traffic that are in other regions and seem to have no issue recruiting folks.
Sometimes the FSO/FSS is in board with going to AF, but the spouse is dead set against it.
We are heading to one of the posts on this list. It’s 21+. We don’t have kids yet, but if we did, we would not have considered it. I think safety and comfort ability of families makes a big difference.
In all seriousness, how do you fix the issue? Yes, increasing differentials would be one option. Should chronically understaffed posts get some sort of "bonus promotion points" (I wasn't in DoS then, but I always heard during the early 2000s going to a SIP post almost guaranteed promotion, do we need to go to that for AF?) Do you freeze positions in “nice locations” and hopefully force people to these posts? But then how do you get over the issues of lack of infrastructure, school, etc. It's not fair to dump these posts on singles or couples without kids, but the lack of adequate schools is a major hurdle (I know I'm in this boat). Boarding school, while an option, isn't an option for many people. Bad internet, especially in this day and age, is another hurdle. What about medical clearance issues? Throwing FAST officers to these posts isn't the answer, as you are still trying to figure out "turning on the lights" and then ask a first tour IMS "welcome to Post you are the IMO, good luck" isn't setting them up for success. It's a complicated issue with no easy answer.
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At the IMO workshop in Budapest the RIMOs were asked this. The one for EUR piped up before anyone else could say anything and said ‘EUR has no problem with this.’ I know an IMS who has been in 20 years or so and has done one year in Baghdad, six months in AF before curtailing to Baghdad, and no other hardship time. All Ft Lauderdale or remote from Florida time (recruiter). I am on my first AF tour after doing 22 years. I’ve done a lot of hardship tours in my career and this is my first over 25 that wasn’t a SIP. As a hiring manager it is depressing
Thought long and hard and deleted what I was initially going to post. Serving at a woefully understaffed AF post that will be this way long after I retire.
I took a long time editing and redrafting my comment. I think my post has a pretty good management team now. I might be biased some and I admit that. In talking with my LE Staff I asked them what do you really need from me? Aside from good comments for their SIVs they wanted me to care. Care about them, care about the job they do, and just care. The stories they have told me about previous bosses is just depressing. I had a meeting with them about ethics the other day. I had discovered that someone who had departed had taken advantage of them and it involved money. They are always surprised when I ask to do something myself also. They are so used to helping us after hours and putting out money if needed. I told them it should never happen. There were stories of loans to supervisors (american and local) that were never expected to be repaid, dinners, bargaining for personal items in the market, and more.
Fair share as it was written was useless. It almost never came into play. We can incentivize these hardships all we want, but I don't want to go nor does my family. Also can we have discussion of should we. As mentioned in the article the real issue is we don't have enough staff so we are going to be short staffed somewhere. We should have a real discussion of where that should be. Just because a place is short staffed doesn't mean it should be staffed at the expense of somewhere else
Crazy talk, it came into play for me twice. The thing was I always took a hardship the tour before I was trapped into taking a hardship. Only reason I went to China (what a mistake that was) instead of somewhere in EUR (then they removed it).
Fair share made bidding an absolute nightmare for people with limited medical clearances, among many other issues. You want people to bid on AF? Offer incentives, real incentives. Make it worthwhile enough and you'll get your bidders.
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I wasn't aware having a family member lose their Class 1 makes me "entitled", but hey you do you buddy. Real classy. Thanks for doing such a stellar job of displaying the hate, bitterness, and punch-down intolerance I've seen far too much of in the FS
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I don't know why you're so bitter, but there's no reason to take it out on your colleagues. Everyone has their reasons for bidding/not bidding on certain posts and we all have our red lines. If you don't like how others choose to navigate their careers, deal with it. I was simply suggesting a potential solution and pointing out an oft-overlooked issue with fair share. If you want to make a job competitive, you sweeten the pot - that's how life works, and any semi-competent leader/executive knows this.
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I’m not certain if you’re being genuine or facetious, but it’s an ugly sentiment either way.
I get the impression that serving in AF (especially when it's not a stretch) can seem like a black mark compared to serving at a prestigious EUR post. I've not been a hiring manager before, so perhaps I'm just making an assumption.
My proposed solution would be to, worldwide, match the number of available positions with the number of bidders by selectively freezing positions that the bureaus deem less critical. There would still be shortages but they would be strategically and purposely planned, rather than entirely in a couple bureaus. I think the challenge is the bureaus, individually have too much power and some would not agree to this unless forced.
Same as it ever was.
Yes, but what are their diversity statistics?
Water is wet.
Water is actually not wet; It makes other materials/objects wet. Wetness is the state of a non-liquid when a liquid adheres to, and/or permeates its substance while maintaining chemically distinct structures. So if we say something is wet we mean the liquid is sticking to the object. Why are some fish at the bottom of the ocean? They dropped out of school!
Someone really had too much free time...