FederalDaily - June 6, 2007
Federal Procurement Workforce Grew by 1 Percent
The federal acquisition workforce grew by 1 percent in FY 2006—from 59,477 in FY 2005 to 59,997
last fiscal year—an increase of just 520 employees, according to new Office of Personnel Management
(OPM) data analyzed by the Federal Acquisition Institute. The report, released on June 4, shows the
federal government now has approximately 28,000 procurement professionals in the GS-1102 series—about
19,000 at DoD and another 9,000 in civilian agencies. The report identifies the twin problems facing
the procurement workforce: retirement and retention. The report shows that the average retirement eligibility
for contracting professionals increases from 29 percent in FY 2011 to 50 percent in FY 2016, although
agencies normally see only a fraction of eligible retirees leave the procurement workforce every year.
Retention is troubling, with a 15 percent or higher turnover rate for 12 of the 24 agencies tracked
in the report. Those with highest procurement workforce turnover were: the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
39 percent; Department of Homeland Security, 29 percent; Department of Justice, 27 percent, Department
of Commerce, 22 percent and Department of Labor, 20 percent. NASA had the lowest turnover rate in its
acquisition workforce, 8 percent. To see more, go to: www.whitehouse.gov/omb/pubpress/2007/060407_acq_workforce_report.pdf
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OPM Launches Virtual Career Services Conference
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is hosting an Internet-based National Career Services Conference
to provide university career services counselors with tools to encourage students to join the nation’s
civilian workforce. The conference is especially targeted at the 600 colleges and universities around
the country that participate in OPM’s and the Partnership for Public Service’s Call to
Serve initiative, said OPM Director Linda Springer. On June 6 at 11:00 a.m. ET, the conference will
feature a “Student Programs in the Federal Government” presentation followed by three panel
presentations focused on mission-critical occupations in the federal government. On June 7, the conference
kicks off at 11:00 a.m. ET, with the panel “Engineering in the Federal Government,” followed
by “Medicine and Public Health in the Federal Government.” Following the conclusion of
the conference on June 7, all material will be available on the OPM Web site for the rest of the year,
said Springer. To see more, go to: www.opm.gov/news/virtual-national-career-services-conference-set-for-june-57,1183.aspx
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GAO: NIH Personnel Recusal Policies Need Clarification
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) needs to implement better conflict-of-interest policies to
clarify when NIH senior employees and outside peer reviewers need to recuse themselves from agency
work, said a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. GAO looked at NIH policy manuals on
conflict of interest rules for agency employees and peer reviewers who have significant decision-making
responsibilities over the merits of research funding requests. In FY 2005, NIH spent approximately
85 percent of its $28 billion budget through awards of grants and research and development contracts.
GAO found the current policies wanting. NIH has not established clear recusal policies for senior employees,
the report said, because the NIH policy manual is contradictory on whether senior employees must recuse
in writing and notify their supervisors of their recusals. The NIH concurred with GAO’s recommendation
and plans to revise and reissue relevant portions of its policy manual within six months, the report
said. To see more, go to: www.gao.gov/highlights/d07319high.pdf
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