GovernmentExecutive.com

Lawmakers and agency officials outlined plans for strengthening the size and skill of the government's acquisition workforce at a Senate hearing Thursday.

The shrinking acquisition workforce has been an ongoing problem for years, especially as the number of procurements continues to grow. According to the Government Accountability Office, the government bought $400 billion in goods and services in fiscal 2006 with only 20,000 contracting specialists in the workforce. Half of the government's contracting specialists will be eligible for retirement by 2016, the latest annual report from the Federal Acquisition Institute estimated.

"With every new retiree, the government is losing important institutional knowledge," said Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii. "The government must act aggressively now in analyzing acquisition workforce trends so that a brain drain does not develop. . ."

Both Congress and the administration say they are taking steps to avoid such a crisis. Office of Federal Procurement Policy Administrator Paul Denett told a Senate subcommittee that the administration has made strides over the last 18 months to strengthen the acquisition workforce. He touted new certification programs for contracting officers, program managers and contracting officer technical representatives to standardize training and experience, as well as recruitment initiatives such as internships.

Denett also highlighted the first competency survey of the contracting workforce, which is now being used to help civilian agencies improve employees' skills. The Office of Personnel Management is using the results from the 2007 survey to help each agency develop a tailored plan to address existing and anticipated personnel deficiencies, Denett said.

Karen Pica, director of the Federal Acquisition Institute, and Frank Anderson Jr., president of the Defense Acquisition University, testified that the three-year-old partnership between the two institutions is extremely beneficial to the training, recruitment and retention of the contracting workforce. In particular, the cooperation has expanded training resources, Anderson said. Since the partnership was established in 2005, there has been a 529 percent increase in the number of people graduating from DAU's certification training program.

Along with better training for present employees, the administration wants to ensure the government hires enough qualified new acquisition professionals. In addition to a federal acquisition internship, the administration also is framing the field of government acquisition as a desirable career path for students and other potential employees.

Thursday's witnesses said that publicly recognizing the achievements of acquisition employees, promoting opportunities for advancement and using direct hiring authorities are all important ways of attracting talented individuals.

"It's a great deal for them to get into," Denett said. "I think we have to do a better job of publicizing that and we are doing that ... accenting all the positives. We can forgive college loans, give various retention bonuses, give an opportunity to work with some great people on some really neat programs and climb the ladder."

COMMENTS

• Incentives, Incentives, Incentives. The personnel schemata used by the Fed are archaic and not competitve with the commercial marketplace. If required civil service existed in this country, the existing structures might work. The failure to recognize the need for adjustment is interesting in light of the fact that the Fed realized commercial contracting in many instances, is better for all, in theory and in hope of proper execution anyhow. The failure to see this in the employment arena is a travesty. As a JD/MBA the entry level Fed job I took out of school simply could not provide for me to live in the DC Metro area even while my loans were under forebearance. When an offer came along from a contractor that allowed me to stay in the field, I took it. While I have a duty to my shareholders, I am an American taxpayer first and am concerned where my tax dollars go. As such, in my mind, it makes no difference who pays me just that I am FAIRLY compensated. My goal as an acquisition professional is still the same---get the best value for my client. I only mention this last point to deal with the detractors of the contractor workforce---there are just as many self interested people in the Fed as there are in the private sector. We will never solve these bigger problems unless we get REAL and quit dealing with hackneyed generalizations that are largely without merit. G.D. Posted February 21, 2008 3:29 PM
• Long-time CO, you hit the nail on the head. At last, an accurate depiction of current CO life. Another Long-Time CO Posted February 21, 2008 12:08 PM
• The mere idea is INSANE! The answer is NOT more people, but less! We need less government spending -- and certainly LESS numbers of people generating RFPs. I have seen a tremendous number of RFPs that were blatantly wasteful spending. We have contractors working on the government side generating work for their employers. Truly insane. frank Posted February 20, 2008 11:01 PM