Three agencies are developing specific acquisition workforce plans. VA purchases goods and services, such as medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, and information technology. All four of these agencies have also developed training and career development programs that are aimed at ensuring their acquisition workforces have the skills to accomplish the agencies’ missions. Also, acquisition rules and regulations are changing, making it difficult for agencies to predict what will be required of their acquisition workforce in years to come. Compounding the uncertainty of the future environment is the changing role of the acquisition professional from merely a purchaser or process manager to a business manager. In order to make this transition, acquisition workers will need to acquire an entirely new set of skills and knowledge, according to the agency officials with whom we spoke. For example, in addition to having a firm understanding of contracting rules and processes, acquisition workers will need to be adept at consulting and communicating with line managers, and they will need to be able to analyze business problems, identify different alternatives in purchasing goods or services, and assist in developing strategies in the early stages of the acquisition. NASA and VA are developing their own management information systems to capture this data. Status of Overall Workforce Strategic Plans ✔ Agency has published/drafted human capital strategic plan ✔ Defined vision/objectives ✔ Identified competencies needed ✔ Identified competencies present ✔ Gap analysis Status of Acquisition Workforce Strategic Plans □ Transition plans □ Evaluate/adjust □ Separate human capital strategic plan for acquisition workforce □ Defined vision/objectives □ Identified competencies needed □ Identified competencies present □ Gap analysis □ Transition plans □ Evaluate/adjust Efforts Treasury is implementing initiatives to ensure that the acquisition workforce does have the skills and competencies needed currently and in the future. Challenges HHS officials said they faced the following challenges in trying to address their future acquisition workforce needs:  the lack of standardized equivalencies for acquisition training courses taken at other government agencies to help determine skill levels and competencies, a lack of data to identify/characterize the workforce, and a need to improve focus on the agency mission and develop competencies for effective acquisitions to support that mission. DOD has analyzed its current workforce and made projections for the future. The civilian agencies we studied may face some of the same challenges as they press forward with their own planning efforts. Scope and Methodology

To determine civilian agencies’ efforts to address their future workforce needs, we interviewed the procurement executives and other acquisition officials at GSA, NASA, DOE, VA, HHS, and Department of Treasury, and we reviewed documents that they provided. These six agencies accounted for about 72 percent of the federal dollars contracted by civilian (non- DOD) agencies in fiscal year 2001. At that time, we will send copies to other interested congressional committees; the secretaries of Defense, Army, Air Force, Navy, Energy, Health and Human Services, Treasury, and Veteran’s Affairs; and the administrators of the General Services Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy.
Why GAO Did This Study

The federal government is dramatically changing the way it purchases goods and services--by relying more on judgment and initiative versus rigid rules to make purchasing decisions. At the same time, agencies are dealing with reductions in the civilian acquisition workforce. GAO was asked to determine what efforts federal civilian agencies are making to address their future acquisition workforce needs.

What GAO Found

GAO looked at the efforts six civilian agencies are undertaking to address their future acquisition workforce needs. Together, these agencies account for about 72 percent of civilian agency contracting dollars. All of these agencies are taking steps to address their future acquisition workforce needs. Three--the Departments of Energy and Veterans Affairs (VA) and the General Services Administration--are developing specific plans to strengthen their acquisition workforces, and three others--the Departments of Treasury and Health and Human Services and the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA)--are including their acquisition workforces in their overall plans to strengthen human capital. All are implementing new or strengthening existing career development and training programs. NASA and VA are also developing new information management systems. The agencies, however, are facing considerable challenges to making their human capital strategic plans and training programs a success. Principally: most acquisition professionals will need to acquire a new set of skills focusing on business management. Because of a more sophisticated acquisition environment, they can no longer be merely purchasers or process managers. Instead, they will also need to be adept at analyzing business problems and assisting with developing strategies in the early stages of the acquisition. Beyond this immediate transformation, it is difficult for agencies to forecast what will be needed in terms of numbers of workers, skills, and expertise in the years to come. Rules, regulations, and agency missions are always changing, and budgets are constantly shifting. Many agencies simply lack good data on their workforces, including information on workforce size and location, knowledge and skills, attrition rates, and retirement rates. This data is critical to mapping out the current condition of the workforce and deciding what needs to be done to ensure that the agency has the right mix of skills and talent for the future. In overcoming these challenges, agencies can learn from the Department of Defense (DOD), which has made progress in acquisition workforce strategic planning and has addressed some of the same issues. DOD officials learned that the strategic planning effort was going to take a long time and that effective leadership and guidance, along with technology and sound methodology, were required to accurately forecast workforce needs.