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White House Wooing Tech Workers for Tours of Duty in Government
Attracting new tech talent will be tricky for the federal governmen, given the ever-widening cultural and political gap between President Trump's White House and the left-leaning Silicon Valley.
The White House plans to convene technology giants including Amazon.com, Google, Microsoft, and IBM on Monday (October 22) and urge them to make it easier for their workers to leave behind their big paychecks and snazzy office perks and do brief tours of duty in government.
For the Trump administration, the hope is that private companies might encourage employees to take leaves of absence to help modernize state and federal agencies—bringing a Silicon Valley sensibility to challenges like improving veterans' health care and combating cybersecurity threats.
"The country benefits when patriotic citizens with technical expertise choose to serve at the federal, state or local level," said Christopher Liddell, deputy chief of staff for policy coordination.
Attracting new tech talent always has been tricky for the federal government, given the slow process of hiring, the sensitive nature of background checks and security clearances, and the reality that public service pays far less than companies such as Google. But President Trump personally faces an added challenge: an ever-widening cultural and political gap between his White House and the left-leaning Silicon Valley, which has opposed many of Trump's policies.
From The Washington Post
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