Federal Manager's Daily Report

GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service needs a more comprehensive human capital plan to address hiring, retention, and succession planning for its contract specialist workforce, an IG report says.

“Without such a plan, FAS may be hiring contract specialists without assessing needs and hiring costs; considering turnover rates; and preparing for upcoming retirements,” it says, adding that 30 percent of the roughly 900 contract specialists in the FAS central office are either eligible to retire or will be within five years.

The report noted that the IG has identified hiring and retention in the acquisition workforce as a major management challenge at GSA since 2014. It said GSA should develop a plan that includes a process to support knowledge transfer and succession planning and an assessment of critical skills and competencies now and in the future, and of the projected skills gap.

It said management agreed with its recommendation to develop such a plan, in collaboration with other GSA offices, including the office of government-wide policy and the central HR office.

FAS contract specialists issue and award task orders on behalf of customer agencies through FAS’s office of assisted acquisition services, and establish and administer government-wide acquisition contracts. The total amount of all sales under FAS contract vehicles in FY 2015 was $50 billion, of which $33 billion was under the schedules program, the report said.