^[1]The Defense Department in the U.S. just isn’t doing what it needs to in order to recruit and retain science, technology, engineering, and math employees.

That’s according to a new report from two private non-profits — the National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council. The Defense Department itself sponsored the study.

The Defense Department’s recruiting “should be reviewed and overhauled as necessary,” the agencies say, including:

• Rethinking whether you really need a clearance for some STEM positions
• Using employees’ skills better, and helping them grow in their careers better
• Changing the “slow, impersonal, and sometimes opaque” hiring process

More here ^[2].