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# FDA Struggles to Recruit in Wake of Retirements
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/fda-struggles-to-recruit-in-wake-of-retirements/
- Published: 2023-06-06T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T18:36:24.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: FDA Policy/General, #legacy-id-D5154629

FDA is experiencing a larger-than-normal exodus of retiring employees now that the Covid-19 public health emergency is winding down. Speaking at an Alliance for a Stronger FDA virtual staffing update 6/5, FDA chief of staff **Julie Tierney** said that so far in fiscal year 2023 there have been 634 staff departures with 38% (239) of these being retirements. “We have folks that are very mission-driven, but they couldn’t leave the agency during that important moment in time, and now they are starting to reflect and think about retirement and other plans.”

FDA’s current headcount is about 19,000 full-time equivalents, but there are still about 2,000 vacancies to fill, according to Tierney. Over the past three years, the agency has seen net employee growth of about 9%, and its average turnover rate is about 8%, she said.

Tierney said it’s challenging to recruit highly trained scientific, medical, and technical staff who can command higher compensation in the private sector, but offering hybrid working arrangements and other flexibility options has helped lately.

She said that with existing employees, FDA continues to assess how much time they need to be spending in the office in order to interact with industry sponsors, patient and consumer groups, and “so we’re taking that into account when we think about our business needs as well. So I think you're likely to see more meetings take place on campus, but we're also going to use technology to make meetings as accessible as possible. You know, we saw success through the pandemic by holding remote advisory committee meetings, which allowed us to bring experts from across the country that didn't have to travel. And so we were able to leverage that diversity of expertise. We were also able to allow folks to participate in open public hearings who might not otherwise have been able to make the trip.”

Additionally, face-to-face meetings with industry have been restored at FDA’s campus by CDER and CBER, Tierney noted, adding that some sponsors are still content with conducting a critical product development meeting through Zoom because in-person meetings add an extra expense and are time-consuming.