Pai Can 'Make the FCC a Great Place to Work Again,' Says Layton, Citing Low Ranking
Chairman Ajit Pai could "make the FCC a great place to work again," said American Enterprise Institute scholar Roslyn Layton, who was on the Trump transition team for the agency. She said the latest commission ranking in the Best Places…
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to Work in Government reports on the quality of life of agency employees suggests there's room for improvement. "Overall the FCC is ranked 20 out of 27 for similar mid-sized agencies, with less than average scores for all indicators," she said in a blog post Friday. "FCC staff report increasing dissatisfaction with the agency’s leadership since 2013 when Chairman Wheeler took office." The FCC had an overall score of 55 in 2009 (below the midsize agency median of 62); it jumped to 68 in 2010 and peaked at 71.3 in 2013 (the median was 62.8); but it was down to 61.5 in 2016 (the median was 68.4). Pai "has an opportunity to reverse the dismal and declining scores for empowerment, fairness, supervision, innovation, and strategic management," Layton wrote. "The FCC’s worst score is for Employee Skill–Mission Match which measures the extent to which employees feel that their skills and talents are used effectively. With some 600 lawyers and only 50 or so economists, the FCC today is not equipped to conduct even basic economic regulation," she wrote, partially blaming "byzantine federal hiring rules which impose job posting requirements for technical staff but not attorneys."