Interest in US federal tech roles has surged, with around 25,000 engineers and technology professionals expressing interest in joining the Trump administration’s new Tech Force programme, signalling strong workforce appetite for government roles focused on artificial intelligence and digital transformation.
The initiative, led by the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM), aims to recruit software engineers, data specialists and other tech professionals to work across federal agencies. According to OPM Director Scott Kupor, the applicant pool will be used to fill 1,000 positions in the first Tech Force cohort, highlighting intense competition for limited government tech roles.
Selected recruits will be appointed for two-year terms and embedded within agencies such as the Departments of Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs and Justice, where they will work on technology and AI-driven projects. The programme is positioned as a key pillar of Donald Trump’s AI agenda, aimed at strengthening in-house technical capabilities across government functions.
From a workforce perspective, Tech Force marks a notable shift in federal hiring priorities. While the administration has focused on reducing overall government headcount during the early months of Trump’s second term, it has carved out exceptions for roles deemed critical to national security and technological competitiveness. The scale of interest suggests that skilled tech workers see public-sector roles as an opportunity to work on large-scale, high-impact systems, despite broader uncertainty around government employment.
The initiative also reflects a wider trend of governments competing with the private sector for scarce AI and data talent. Similar talent programmes were launched under previous administrations, including during the term of former President Joe Biden. For the US workforce, Tech Force underscores how AI expertise is increasingly shaping not just private-sector hiring, but also the future composition and priorities of the federal workforce.