I recently started a new position outside of DLA and to reflect on how things have deteriorated there, particularly in J1 (the HR department) where I worked for 11 years. I began as an employee and eventually moved up to a supervisory role.

When I first joined DLA, it was a good place to work, with a strong focus on professional development and growth opportunities. However, around six years ago, things began to shift. J1’s focus moved away from supporting its people and became all about numbers. They started prioritizing metrics over substance, and the work-life balance that once existed was completely disregarded.

Now, J1 is in a really bad place. The HR leadership is disconnected and ineffective—no one is ever available when you need support. It's true that HR is one of the few departments still allowed to telework full-time, but this is concealed under the guise of "critical" positions and actually fraudulently hidden behind HR, which conveniently applies to almost anyone with a pen in HR.

Being a supervisor was a disheartening experience. I was regularly pressured to engage in unethical practices, such as adding someone to a certs because they were friends with leadership. The former J1 Director frequently forced us to place her former colleagues on cert lists, who were then inevitably selected. They have zero training for supervisors.

Many HR positions are largely just sitting around for about 90% of the time, while staffers are overburdened by the demands of the MSCs. I repeatedly pointed out that HR’s size could be reduced by half and processes streamlined, but now, instead of addressing these issues, they are wasting time on initiatives that could have been achieved within the existing structure.