Low morale continues to plague the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, resulting in widespread vacancies in senior-level positions all over the department as well as general understaffing. DHS will “probably” do something about it, according to its top human resources official.

Morale is so low, in fact, that in the 2004 Federal Human Capital Survey, “DHS’ scores placed it 29th out of the 30 large agencies in the survey,” chief human capital officer K. Gregg Prillaman testified (PDF) before Congress last week.

People are leaving DHS in droves, and hiring has fallen off sharply since last year, with 11,500 employees hired in fiscal year 2005, but only 3,500 hired so far this fiscal year. “Recruitment is probably our highest priority,” Prillaman said.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the Federal Emergency Management Agency, hit hard by its inability to respond quickly and effectively to Hurricane Katrina last summer.

FEMA has failed to fill senior-level jobs, according to a memorandum the subcommittee released late Thursday. Subcommittee member Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., whose district was hit by Hurricane Katrina, said with just two weeks left before this year’s storm season begins, the agency must beef up its ranks.

“When I see only 73 percent of FEMA employees on board, I’m concerned,” he said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and TSA also are listed in the memo as still having senior-level vacancies.

“We have a very real problem in DHS with retention, recruitment and morale,” said subcommittee chairman Mike Rogers, R.-Ala. “The number of vacancies is a growing problem.” — Government Executive

Acting FEMA director R. David “Duct Tape” Paulison said at a briefing today that FEMA had reached 85% of the staffing level it wanted to reach, and is “in a very aggressive hiring mode” to reach 95% by June 1.

But those aren’t the only departments suffering from low morale and a shortage of warm bodies, let alone competent people. The Federal Air Marshal Service is so short on people it’s offering air marshal jobs to TSA screeners.

Thomas Quinn, who was head of the service, recently resigned, and few trust that his replacement will actually be able to fix ongoing problems in the service, such as outdated, inflexible policies which actually put air marshals at risk, such as requiring them to stay in particular hotels and conform to a dress code.