--- kind: "section" citation: "21 U.S.C. § 379d–3b" title: "21" title_heading: "Food and Drugs" number: "379d–3b" heading: "Strategic Workforce Plan and report" release: "119-102" date: "2026-07-12" url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/21/379d-3b" units: - "Chapter 9 — Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act" - "Subchapter VII — General Authority" - "Part A — General Administrative Provisions" --- # §379d–3b. Strategic Workforce Plan and report - (a) **In general—** Not later than September 30, 2023, and at least every 4 years thereafter, the [Secretary](/usc/21/321.md?p=d) shall develop, begin implementation of, and submit to the appropriate committees of Congress and post on the website of the [Food](/usc/21/321.md?p=f) and [Drug](/usc/21/321.md?p=g-1) Administration, a coordinated strategy and report to provide direction for the activities and programs of the [Secretary](/usc/21/321.md?p=d) to recruit, hire, train, develop, and retain the workforce needed to fulfill the public health mission of the [Food](/usc/21/321.md?p=f) and [Drug](/usc/21/321.md?p=g-1) Administration, including to facilitate collaboration across centers, to keep pace with new biomedical, technological, and scientific advancements, and support the development, review, and regulation of medical [products](/usc/21/360eee.md?p=13). Each such report shall be known as the “[Food](/usc/21/321.md?p=f) and [Drug](/usc/21/321.md?p=g-1) Administration Strategic Workforce Plan”. - (b) **Use of the Food and Drug Administration Strategic Workforce Plan—** Each center within the [Food](/usc/21/321.md?p=f) and [Drug](/usc/21/321.md?p=g-1) Administration shall develop and update, as appropriate, a strategic plan that will be informed by the [Food](/usc/21/321.md?p=f) and [Drug](/usc/21/321.md?p=g-1) Administration Strategic Workforce Plans developed under [subsection (a)](#a). - (c) **Contents of the Food and Drug Administration Strategic Workforce Plan—** Each [Food](/usc/21/321.md?p=f) and [Drug](/usc/21/321.md?p=g-1) Administration Strategic Workforce Plan under [subsection (a)](#a) shall— - (1) include agency-wide human capital strategic goals and priorities for recruiting, hiring, training, developing, and retaining a qualified workforce for the [Food](/usc/21/321.md?p=f) and [Drug](/usc/21/321.md?p=g-1) Administration; - (2) establish specific actions the [Secretary](/usc/21/321.md?p=d) will take to achieve such strategic goals and priorities and address the workforce needs of the [Food](/usc/21/321.md?p=f) and [Drug](/usc/21/321.md?p=g-1) Administration in the forthcoming fiscal years; - (3) identify challenges and risks the [Secretary](/usc/21/321.md?p=d) will face in meeting its strategic goals and priorities, and the actions the [Secretary](/usc/21/321.md?p=d) will take to overcome those challenges and mitigate those risks; - (4) establish performance measures, benchmarks, or other elements that the [Secretary](/usc/21/321.md?p=d) will use to measure and evaluate progress in achieving such strategic goals and priorities and the effectiveness of such strategic goals and priorities; and - (5) define functions, capabilities, and gaps in such workforce and identify strategies to recruit, hire, train, develop, and retain such workforce. - (d) **Considerations—** In developing each [Food](/usc/21/321.md?p=f) and [Drug](/usc/21/321.md?p=g-1) Administration Strategic Workforce Plan under [subsection (a)](#a), the [Secretary](/usc/21/321.md?p=d) shall consider— - (1) the number of employees (including senior leadership and non-senior leadership employees) eligible for retirement, the expertise of such employees, and the employing center of such employees; - (2) the vacancy and turnover rates for employees with different types of expertise and from different centers, including any changes or trends related to such rates; - (3) the results of the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey for employees of the [Food](/usc/21/321.md?p=f) and [Drug](/usc/21/321.md?p=g-1) Administration, including any changes or trends related to such results; - (4) rates of pay for different types of positions, including rates for different types of expertise within the same field (such as differences in pay between different medical specialists), and how such rates of pay impact the ability of the [Secretary](/usc/21/321.md?p=d) to achieve the strategic goals and priorities described in [subsection (c)](#c); - (5) the statutory hiring authorities used to hire [Food](/usc/21/321.md?p=f) and [Drug](/usc/21/321.md?p=g-1) Administration employees, and the time to hire across different hiring authorities; and - (6) any other timely and relevant information, as the [Secretary](/usc/21/321.md?p=d) determines appropriate. - (e) **Evaluation of progress—** Each [Food](/usc/21/321.md?p=f) and [Drug](/usc/21/321.md?p=g-1) Administration Strategic Workforce Plan issued pursuant to [subsection (a)](#a), with the exception of the first such [Food](/usc/21/321.md?p=f) and [Drug](/usc/21/321.md?p=g-1) Administration Strategic Workforce Plan, shall include an evaluation of— - (1) the progress the [Secretary](/usc/21/321.md?p=d) has made, based on the performance measures, benchmarks, and other elements that measure successful recruitment, hiring, training, development, and retention activities; and - (2) whether actions taken in response to the Plan improved the capacity of the [Food](/usc/21/321.md?p=f) and [Drug](/usc/21/321.md?p=g-1) Administration to achieve the strategic goals and priorities described in [subsection (c)(1)](#c-1). - (f) **Additional considerations—** The [Food](/usc/21/321.md?p=f) and [Drug](/usc/21/321.md?p=g-1) Administration Strategic Workforce Plan issued in fiscal year 2023 shall address the effect of the COVID–19 pandemic on hiring, retention, and other workforce challenges for the [Food](/usc/21/321.md?p=f) and [Drug](/usc/21/321.md?p=g-1) Administration, including protecting such workforce during public health emergencies. ## Source credit (June 25, 1938, ch. 675, § 714B, as added Pub. L. 117–328, div. FF, title III, § 3623, Dec. 29, 2022, 136 Stat. 5878.)