Thursday, October 08, 2009
Although modest in size, the move by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to switch 3,200 jobs back into the hands of government employees marks a change in direction from the outsourcing to private contractors in recent years. At DHS more work is currently handled outside of the agency than in-house, at a ratio of 1.2 contractors to 1 federal worker.
Tom Mason, director of policy and acquisition workforce at DHS’ Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, said his agency is ahead of other government offices in locating ways to trim the size of its contractor force. “Most of the government people in DHS are front-line law enforcement officers–the people you see at the airport, Customs and Border Protection people, the Coast Guardsmen out on the ships,” Mason told Government Executive. “This doesn’t seem terribly out of line when you look at other places. But if we were to add on the number of contractors that we have providing goods—not services—it gets to be a pretty high number. The question is, are we at DHS properly staffed. We’ve come to the conclusion that we really aren’t.”
The first jobs that will be transferred back to civil servants are likely to involve “inherently governmental or mission-critical functions,” according to Government Executive.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Homeland Security to Bring 3,200 Contractor Positions In-house (by Elizabeth Newell, Government Executive)
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