DoD Looks to Expand Acquisition Workforce

The Pentagon has said that it in effect wants to contract-in much of the acquisition-related work now being done by contractors, ultimately seeking to bring in-house about 11,000 current positions. That would roughly restore the mix of federal and contractor employees involved in acquisition to the ratios existing before the start of the Bush administration. DoD has been under criticism in recent years for using contractors to perform work that the critics say should be done by government employees. The department in a preview of its upcoming budget proposal also said it anticipated creating about 9,000 new federal employee positions in the acquisition field, and also creating or bringing in-house thousands more support positions.