War Department Expands Pay Tools to Keep High‑Skill Civilians

War Department is issuing new merit-based financial incentives to civilian employees amid an ongoing push to train and retain a skilled tech and cyber workforce. Secretary Pete Hegseth and Deputy War Secretary Steve Feinberg issued a memo directing the department’s component office leaders create monetary awards for the top 15 percent of civilian performers in the DOW.

“In addition to the ongoing efforts across the Department to develop plans of action to retain, reward and recognize our outstanding civilian employees, I hereby direct all DOW Component heads and Principal Staff Assistants of the Office of the Secretary of War to take immediate action to recognize and reward our very best civilians with meaningful monetary awards consistent with the relevant existing civilian awards authorities for each pay system,” the document states.

Issued last month, the memo outlines formal tools for officials to retain the civilian workforce and mitigate the DOW’s brain drain to the private sector. The awards can be raised as high as $25,000, according to the memo.

“To best recognize our civilian workforce, monetary awards of 15 to 25 percent of basic pay, up to $25,000, are authorized for the top 15 percent of performers,” the memo reads.

Fomenting Workforce Retention

Tech workforce retention is a strategic focus for the department and has been a point of emphasis for years. Matthew Isnor, program lead for cyberspace workforce development, said in 2024 that DOW is evolving its strategy to better retain the cyber workforce in the department.

“The department wants to be the employer of choice in the future. We have kind of sat on our laurels for a long time where we think people are going to show up to our front door and just want to be part of the government,” Isnor said at WEST in San Diego in Feb. 2024. “Times have changed. … We have to be more proactive with our recruitment and retention.”

The DOW is already using monetary awards to retain cybersecurity talent, Mark Gorak, principal director for resources and analysis for DOW’s Office of the CIO told GovCIO Media & Research last year.

“When I look at metrics, our cyber retention rates are much higher than our average for retention for civilian workforce. That’s partly because we put in huge initiatives and a push for incentives,” Gorak said.

Additionally, Gorak said he has seen success with Targeted Local Market Supplements to help retention, specific pay bumps designed to bridge the gap between standard federal pay and the high-market rates found in tech hubs like Northern California.

A Cultural Shift

Pay is not the only incentive to retain employees, DOW officials say. Patrick Johnson, DOW director of Workforce Development in the Workforce Innovation Directorate, told GovCIO Media & Research that career pathing and innovative workforce tools are critical.

“There is a gap when we talk about … how we develop operational planning, cyber leadership,” Johnson told GovCIO Media & Research in 2024. “That’s something we’re going to kind of cast our gaze on, because you’re talking about career pathing. How do they move from where they are right now at the operational level, up through the ranks and assume that responsibility. If we’ve followed traditional models, that is not adequate.”

The memo offers financial recognition into the department’s broader human capital strategy. Hegseth and Feinberg wrote that the workforce is part of the broader move toward department modernization.

“Excellence in the civilian ranks is the engine of our technological edge,” the memo reads.