Congress will get an update on the security clearance backlog this week, but if you can’t tune in, here’s the bottom line up front: the government has taken steps, there has been progress and the system is improving, but it’s not nearly enough.
There are still more than 600,000 government and industry employees waiting for security clearances from the federal government — highly skilled Americans who are sidelined because of bureaucratic red tape. Some have been waiting as long as 500 days just to go to work.
We in the aerospace and defense industry must frequently ask new employees to delay showing up for work, or do less important work, for months until their clearances are approved. The slow pace of background investigations impedes our industry’s ability to recruit the talented individuals we need to fulfill important roles, such as conducting space missions, managing cyber networks, and performing advanced manufacturing.
Keep reading this article at: https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2018/12/four-steps-fix-security-clearance-backlog/153445
