You asked 'Where were the complaints about previous governments not growing them fast enough?' I answered with an example of a previous complaint. I take it t

You asked 'Where were the complaints about previous governments not growing them fast enough?' I answered with an example of a previous complaint. I take it then you did not read the report? It goes into details of why they were understaffed compared to what they were in 2012: > Beginning in 2013, a series of events led to a hiring backlog at NWS. Specifically, in response to the 2013 federal budget sequestration, NOAA implemented an agency-wide hiring freeze.26 Because WFMO generally could not hire or replace departing employees during the freeze, the number of vacancies at NWS increased. According to WFMO officials, when the hiring freeze was lifted in 2014, demand for hiring across NOAA was high. Simultaneously, WFMO had experienced a high level of attrition during the freeze—in fiscal years 2013 and 2014, approximately 50 percent of WFMO staff handling hiring left the agency, according to a WFMO official—and therefore, WFMO could not keep pace with the hiring demand when the freeze was lifted.27 In fiscal year 2016, attrition at NWS outpaced WFMO’s hiring abilities. Over the course of the fiscal year, 191 staff left NWS, and WFMO hired 157 external candidates, according to WFMO data. Therefore, NWS’s hiring backlog increased. ... > According to NOAA budget officials, an administrative spending cap has limited WFMO’s ability to increase its hiring activities to address the hiring demand ... It also mentions some of the problems which have nothing to do with long-term research: > However, taking these steps, according to managers and staff, at times led to their inability to complete other key tasks, such as providing severe weather information support to state and local emergency managers. ... managers in five operational units said that managers and staff worked overtime to cover forecasting shifts and ensure forecasts and warnings were issued.