Union questions IT staff cuts at Treasury

Union officials are meeting with Treasury Department officials Tuesday to get more information about the agency's plan to cut 75 employees from its information technology staff over the next few months. The proposed staff cuts are part of a plan to "align the chief information officer's organization to the mission and business of Treasury, streamline the organization and operations, and improve performance," according to Treasury spokeswoman Tara Bradshaw. But National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley said Monday she did not yet know the specifics of the agency's plans. "I have no details, just anecdotal information from the employees," Kelley said. "We submitted a request to negotiate over the reorganization and they apparently responded that they will not be negotiating, but they will be briefing us. Until we really have all the facts, I still am sure that they have an obligation to negotiate." Over the past three years, office consolidations at Treasury have resulted in the IT staff's growth from about 74 employees to 221 employees, causing an overlap of effort, Bradshaw said. In March, as a result, Mayi Canales, Treasury's CIO, began to assess which jobs in the IT division were critical to meet the agency's mission and what staffing resources were needed to get those jobs done. A productivity review found several cases of redundant processes. "It's sort of like they added all of these people together, but really didn't take a look at what was needed," Bradshaw said. "They weren't taking advantage of technology." In May, consultants from PricewaterhouseCoopers conducted an independent assessment of Canales' core function analysis and found that several functions could be eliminated or combined. The CIO's office then consolidated four work areas, including strategic planning, budget and execution, policy and planning and operation support. An office that focused on training and other human resources issues was eliminated. Three of the 75 jobs eliminated by the realignment were Senior Executive Service positions.

Kelley is questioning the fate of the employees the agency plans to lay off over the next few months. "How will they be placed in new jobs, what choices do these employees have?" Kelley asked. Bradshaw said the agency is working with the staff affected by the streamlining initiative to find them other employment within the government. Some of the displaced employees are filling vacancies in other parts of the agency and others are detailed to the General Services Administration, the Office of Management and Budget and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "They are helping the employees with any training that they need to make sure that they get the skills for the new jobs," Bradshaw said. In the fall, the agency will hold competitions to outsource some of the information technology functions. "If we can do it more cost effectively in-house, we'll keep it in-house," Bradshaw said.