TSA Reaching Optimal Full-time/Part-time Mix
News & Happenings
August 22, 2007
TSA is reaching the operational balance needed between part-time, full-time and split-shift employees to ensure optimal staffing during peak times at airports across the nation.
The agency has increased its part-time work through greater flexibility in hiring and staffing. Besides better meeting its security mission, more targeted staffing also enhances customer service.
In 2006, TSA optimization engineers conducted a study that concluded TSA would be most effective operationally if part-time employees and full-time employees working split shifts accounted for one-third of the workforce's head count. By July, those workers combined for 30 percent of the head count.
The biggest gain in staffing optimization was a 12-fold increase this year in employees working split shifts -- to a total of more than 1,600 officers.
Besides helping the agency meet its security mission, said Aaron Batt of the Office of Security Operations, split shifts "give some part-time TSOs an opportunity they might not otherwise have to gain full-time employment."
Those positions also allow TSA to hire and retain qualified individuals who prefer to work fewer hours or non-traditional shifts. "I'm going to school full-time so I wanted to find a job that I could incorporate into my schedule," said Transportation Security Officer (TSO) Aja Davis. "I couldn't believe it at first, but I get health insurance, life insurance and a savings program to help me save for retirement. So that was a very appealing part of the job, too."
In June, Davis became a part-time employee at Bradley International Airport (Winsor Locks, Conn.), assisting with peak afternoon travel.
Like Davis, TSO Dorothy Karanja needs time to study as she pursues a Ph.D. in International Business. She finds that time between split shifts at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International. "I use the time to ... prepare assignments on a laptop," Karanja said.
