Workforce Risk · OIG shortages × market pay
Where pay drives the shortage — and where it doesn't.
VA OIG flagged 4,434 severe occupational staffing shortages in FY2025 (+50% vs FY2024). Pairing the worst shortages against where VHA actually sits in the market separates the pay-addressable gaps from the ones a raise won't fix. Shortage rates are real (VA OIG); market percentiles are real (BLS OEWS 2025); VHA-current pay is illustrative.
Medical Officer
VA physician pay trails the private market; the §7431 market-pay panel is the lever.
Nurse
VHA base lags the market median; §7451 locality pay is the lever.
Police
Top non-clinical shortage; outside this clinical compensation study.
Psychology
VA pay is competitive — this is a supply / pipeline shortage, not a pay gap.
Two different problems. Two different fixes.
Nurses and physicians are short and below market. The fix is the compensation study itself — §7451 locality pay and §7431 market-pay panels close a measurable gap.
Psychology is VA's top clinical shortage despitecompetitive pay — a supply and pipeline issue. A raise won't fix it, and a credible study says so.
Every benchmark occupation, ranked by market position
Real BLS OEWS market median vs the (illustrative) VHA-current base. Bars run left of center where VHA lags the market, right where it leads. Occupations OIG flags as severe shortages are marked.
Shortage rates are real — VA OIG Determination of VHA Severe Occupational Staffing Shortages, FY2025 (August 12, 2025). Market medians are real (BLS OEWS 2025); VHA-current base pay is illustrative pending the VHA HR extract, so the pay gap is directional. Physician (Medical Officer) market pay is illustrated from the commercial panels until licensed.