# OPM Sets Federal Hiring Priorities

The Office of Personnel Management issued its 2026–2028 strategic recruitment plan, establishing five governmentwide priorities: skills-based assessments, broader outreach, transparency and digitization, pooled hiring, and data-driven decisions. The plan also emphasizes recruiting more technology talent and younger employees. It does not identify a solicitation, contract, funding amount, or procurement contact; related updates on AI-supported civilian hiring at the Department of Defense and a Space Force student outreach campaign illustrate adjacent workforce initiatives.

- Recruitment technology, assessment, outreach, and workforce-analytics providers can map their capabilities to the plan’s stated priorities, but should treat these as potential demand areas rather than funded procurements.
- Agencies’ implementation plans and procurement notices are the concrete next indicators of whether these priorities will translate into requirements or contract opportunities.
- Contractors should distinguish agency-specific initiatives, such as DoD’s AI-supported hiring and the Space Force’s student outreach, from OPM’s governmentwide strategic direction when shaping proposals.

**Jurisdictions:** federal
**Industries:** Information Technology
**Topics:** Digital Infrastructure, Artificial Intelligence
**Published:** October 22, 2026

### Government Entities
- Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
- U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)
- U.S. Space Force (USSF)

### Sources
- [
        OPM issues new strategic plan for hiring at federal agencies - Federal News Network](https://federalnewsnetwork.com/podcast/federal-newscast-podcast/opm-issues-new-strategic-plan-for-hiring-at-federal-agencies) - Federal News Network
- [
        OPM issues new strategic plan for hiring at federal agencies - Federal News Network](https://federalnewsnetwork.com/federal-newscast/2026/10/opm-issues-new-strategic-plan-for-hiring-at-federal-agencies) - Federal News Network