Fox News Digital spoke to SkillStorm CEO Justin Vianello about ways to improve federal hiring. (Getty/Fox Digital)
"One of the solutions to that issue is to actually allow for an on-ramp time where people can spend between two to four months to custom build teams that have the right skills, that have (the) right certifications that are based in the right locations to rapidly deploy teams and to accelerate IT transformation and automation. And that's really where the SkillStorm model comes in," Vianello said.
Vianello says the company has spent millions of dollars in recent years building a Performance Acceleration Center for Excellence that is essentially a learning management training system with a customized curriculum and content along with a "stable of trainers" in a position to "rapidly upskill and deploy people."
"How do we leverage that infrastructure to build out a solution for the federal government?" Vianello said. "Well, what we do is we leverage that infrastructure to accelerate and train teams. And the way the model works is we both bring people into our program. We train them for anywhere between 10 and 16 weeks. We pay them while we're training them. We help them achieve their certification, and then we deploy them. And we recover the investment that we make by billing them hourly."
FLASHBACK: TOP FIVE WILDEST MOMENTS FROM ELON MUSK'S DOGE TENURE AS IT COMES TO AN END
Former DOGE chief Elon Musk looks on as President Donald Trump meets South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. (AP/Evan Vucci)
Former General Services Administration (GSA) head Emily Murphy, who previously spoke to Fox News Digital about the GSA’s work to streamline government in the era of DOGE, said she has "seen firsthand how outdated federal systems have become one of the most serious yet least discussed threats to national security.
"Agencies charged with safeguarding cybersecurity and digital infrastructure are losing the talent battle to the private sector, and the slow, outdated process for onboarding cleared workers doesn’t match the urgency of today’s threats."
Murphy explained that the federal government needs a "new pipeline" that "delivers clearance-eligible, project-ready professionals trained on mission-specific tools."
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"SkillStorm is doing exactly that, deploying "Stormers," technologists trained on specific tech platforms, at a significant discount. It’s a smarter, faster way to secure the talent our government urgently needs.
Vianello told Fox News Digital SkillStorm and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have similar goals in making government more efficient.
"I think DOGE is really focused on IT automation and IT transformation and doing it on an efficient and cost-effective basis," Vianello said.
"We believe, going forward, there's probably going to be more of a push to less full-time employees and more of a push towards efficient contractors coming in and accelerating project delivery. So, again, this really does come back in our belief.
"To the solicitation process, how do we tighten it up? How do we make sure that once an award is made and that technology is implemented, it's not outdated? Because, if that continues to happen, how are you going to continue to attract technologists, young technologists who want to be part of the change?"
Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/expert-speaks-out-perfect-solution-federal-hiring-issues-causing-national-security-concerns