Research for Job Advertising and Selection System

The Navy has long faced shortages in certain critical shore billets. A variety of methods have been used to fill these billets, including involuntary assignments and sea duty credit for rotational purposes. However, these methods are inflexible, affect endstrength, and reduce retention. To better alleviate shortages in hard-to-fill billets, the Navy began offering Assignment Incentive Pay (AIP) in three locations in June 2003. In this paper, we analyze several factors related to AIP: (1) whether access to JASS appears to be restricted for certain categories of Sailors (since Sailors can only apply for AIP using JASS); (2) differences in application rates and fill rates for AIP jobs based on job characteristics and level of AIP cap; (3) application activity for other Type 3 and Type 6 locations to determine which may make good candidates for future AIP locations; (4) a method by which application activity could be examined on a continuing basis to help determine whether AIP cap adjustments are necessary; (5) the cost-effectiveness of various lump-sum payment schemes as an alternative to the present monthly payment scheme; and (6) the overall cost-effectiveness of AIP to date.