Agencies get more time to use pandemic hiring authority

March 30, 2021

Agencies have more time to use a special hiring flexibility to bring on talent during the pandemic. The Office of Personnel Management is extending the deadline for agencies to use a COVID-19 excepted service hiring authority. That means agencies can use the authority to bring on new talent until the end of 2021. Appointments will last no longer than a year. OPM first created this special authority last March to help agencies hire more people more quickly to respond to the pandemic.