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A frequent source of criticism of the NFL’s officiating is the fact that the officials are not full-time employees, and many do other work during the week and in the offseason. The league is moving toward changing that.

This year, the NFL announced today, 24 of the league’s 121 officials will be full-time employees.

“In an effort to improve consistency, efficiency and accuracy, the full-time game officials will work throughout the calendar year on game preparation and game administration, analyzing current game trends, communicating with the clubs, and assisting to ensure that there is a qualified pipeline of future officials,” the league said in a statement.

The full-time officials will be referees Brad Allen, Walt Anderson, Jerome Boger, Pete Morelli and John Parry; umpires Fred Bryan, Roy Ellison, Tony Michalek and Carl Paganelli; down judge William Paterson; line judges Rusty Baynes, Jeff Bergman, Julian Mapp, Mark Perlman and Mark Steinkerchner; field judge Tom Hill; side judges Boris Cheek, Brad Freeman, Jonah Monroe and Scott Novak; and back judges Steve Freeman, Greg Meyer, Terrence Miles and Greg Steed.