NASA's workforce - NASA's mission?***NASA has serious personnel problems. Twenty-five percent of its scientists and engineers will be eligible to retire in the next three to five years, and, as the agency's workforce has been graying, few fresh-faced recruits have been coming through its doors. NASA needs to offer incentives to potential hires.
Scientists and engineers make up 60 percent of NASA's employees, so there's a great need to bring more in. However, universities are graduating fewer technicians than they used to, so there is a great deal of competition for them. While NASA cannot match the salaries in the private sector, it can offer a unique mission. As a consequence, a few additional incentives could be enough to tip skilled personnel into signing and staying at NASA - in spite of sub-standard compensation.
........While NASA scientists still have the ability to shoot for the moon (and further), their purpose can only come from the president. This is where Mr. Bush must step up, preferably at his next State of the Union. We again urge President Bush to announce his long-range goals for the manned space program during that speech, which will happen near the one-year anniversary of the Columbia tragedy. NASA is not likely to have a problem recruiting extraordinary people when it once again takes on extraordinary missions.***