RALEIGH, (SGRToday.com) - There's a hiring binge at Housing and Urban Development (HUD). With six out of 10 HUD employees eligible to retire, the agency has hired roughly 1,000 new employees over the past year.

HUD officials tell Federal News Radio the influx of new people is ushering in a "mindset change" that's part of an effort to improve the workplace environment. Employee surveys have rated HUD not the best place to work. In fact, the agency came in dead last -- 25th out of 25 -- for mid-size agencies in the Best Places to Work annual survey.

Among the issues uncovered in the survey results are employees not feeling empowered and perceptions of management.

HUD received 121,000 applications for the 1,000 positions hired, according to Federal News Radio. Of those, 8,000 were submitted by disabled people and 75,000 were submitted by minorities.

Read the full story at federalnewsradio.com.