{"id":19980,"date":"2019-07-12T18:18:02","date_gmt":"2019-07-12T18:18:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/07\/12\/personnel-office-approves-direct-hire-to-combat-opioid-crisis\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:50:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:50:46","slug":"personnel-office-approves-direct-hire-to-combat-opioid-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/hr\/2019\/07\/12\/personnel-office-approves-direct-hire-to-combat-opioid-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Personnel office approves direct hire to combat opioid crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Department of Justice now has a more expedited means of hiring specialized personnel to address the criminal elements of the opioid epidemic, as the Office of Personnel Management announced July 12 that it issued a direct hiring authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe president has declared the opioid epidemic a public health emergency, and OPM takes that very seriously,\u201d said Margaret Weichert, acting director of OPM in a news release. \u201cWe are doing everything we can to ensure that every agency has the tools they need to combat this crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t