To augment its declining in-house acquisition workforce, DOD  has relied more heavily on contractor personnel. In addition to the overall decline in its in-house acquisition workforce and  an increased workload, DOD faces shifting workforce demographics and a  changing strategic environment. DOD Lacks the Information Needed to Determine the Sufficiency of Its Acquisition Workforce

DOD lacks critical departmentwide information in several areas necessary  to assess, manage, and oversee the acquisition workforce and help ensure  it has a sufficient acquisition workforce to meet DOD’s national security  mission. Omitting these data  from DOD’s assessments not only skews analyses of workforce gaps, but  also limits DOD’s ability to make informed workforce allocation decisions. Because contractor personnel likely comprise  a substantial part of all personnel supporting program offices, AT&L is  missing information on a key segment of the department’s total acquisition  workforce (in-house and contractor personnel). DOD also lacks information on factors driving program offices’ decisions  to use contractor personnel rather than hire in-house personnel. Instead, 25 cited staffing limits, the speed of hiring, or both as  main factors in their decisions to use contractor personnel. AT&L Lacks Key Pieces of Information Necessary to Conduct Gap Analyses

AT&L’s lack of key pieces of information hinders its ability to determine  gaps in the number and skill sets of acquisition personnel needed to meet  DOD’s current and future missions. With regard to information on the personnel it has, AT&L not only lacks  information on contractor personnel, but it also lacks complete  information on the skill sets of the current acquisition workforce and  whether these skill sets are sufficient to accomplish its missions. Recent Initiatives May Not Yield the Information Needed to Assess, Manage, and Oversee DOD’s Total Acquisition Workforce

AT&L has begun to respond to recent legislative requirements aimed at  improving DOD’s management and oversight of its acquisition workforce,  including developing data, tools, and processes to more fully assess and  monitor its acquisition workforce. Each service has also recently initiated,  to varying degrees, additional efforts to assess its own workforce at the  service level. AT&L  has also developed some tools and begun initiatives designed to help with  its management of the acquisition workforce, such as its competency  assessment that is scheduled to be completed in March 2010. However, these  efforts may not provide the comprehensive information DOD needs to  manage and oversee its acquisition workforce. Practices of Leading Organizations Could Provide Insights for DOD’s Acquisition Workforce Efforts

As DOD continues to develop and implement departmentwide initiatives  aimed at providing better oversight of the acquisition workforce, some of  the practices employed by leading organizations for managing their  workforces could provide insights for DOD’s efforts. These practices  include:  identifying gaps in the current workforce by assessing the overall  competencies needed to achieve business objectives, compared to  current competencies;  establishing mechanisms to track and evaluate the effectiveness of  initiatives to close workforce gaps;  taking a strategic approach in deciding when and how to use  contractor personnel to supplement the workforce; and  tracking and analyzing data on contractor personnel. Table 6 provides examples of recruiting and retention  metrics used by the companies we reviewed. Recommendations for Executive Action

To better ensure that DOD’s acquisition workforce is the right size with  the right skills and that the department is making the best use of its  resources, we recommend that the Secretary of Defense take the following  four actions:    Collect and track data on contractor personnel who supplement the  acquisition workforce—including their functions performed, skill sets,  and length of service—and conduct analyses using these data to  inform acquisition workforce decisions regarding the appropriate  number and mix of civilian, military, and contractor personnel the  department needs.
Why GAO Did This Study

Since 2001, the Department of Defense's (DOD) spending on goods and services has more than doubled to $388 billion in 2008, while the number of civilian and military acquisition personnel has remained relatively stable. To augment its in-house workforce, DOD relies heavily on contractor personnel. If it does not maintain an adequate workforce, DOD places its billion-dollar acquisitions at an increased risk of poor outcomes and vulnerability to fraud, waste, and abuse. GAO was asked to (1) assess DOD's ability to determine whether it has a sufficient acquisition workforce, (2) assess DOD initiatives to improve the management and oversight of its acquisition workforce, and (3) discuss practices of leading organizations that could provide insights for DOD's acquisition workforce oversight. To do this, GAO analyzed key DOD studies, obtained data from 66 major weapon system program offices across DOD, and interviewed officials from 4 program offices. GAO also met with representatives from six companies recognized as leaders in workforce management.

What GAO Found

DOD lacks critical departmentwide information to ensure its acquisition workforce is sufficient to meet its national security mission. First, in its acquisition workforce assessments, DOD does not collect or track information on contractor personnel, despite their being a key segment of the total acquisition workforce. DOD also lacks information on why contractor personnel are used, which limits its ability to determine whether decisions to use contractors to augment the in-house acquisition workforce are appropriate. GAO found that program office decisions to use contractor personnel are often driven by factors such as quicker hiring time frames and civilian staffing limits, rather than by the skills needed or the nature or criticality of the work. Second, DOD's lack of key pieces of information limits its ability to determine gaps in the acquisition workforce it needs to meet current and future missions. For example, DOD lacks information on the use and skill sets of contractor personnel, and lacks complete information on the skill sets of its in-house personnel. Omitting data on contractor personnel and needed skills from DOD's workforce assessments not only skews analyses of workforce gaps, but also limits DOD's ability to make informed workforce allocation decisions and determine whether the total acquisition workforce--in-house and contractor personnel--is sufficient to accomplish its mission. DOD has initiated several recent actions aimed at improving the management and oversight of its acquisition workforce. For example, DOD is developing a plan for managing the civilian acquisition workforce and is establishing practices for overseeing additional hiring, recruiting, and retention activities. It has also taken actions to develop some of the data and tools necessary to monitor the acquisition workforce, such as a competency assessment scheduled to be completed in March 2010. Each military service and agency has also begun, to varying degrees, efforts to assess its workforce at the service level. In addition, some efforts aimed at improving DOD's overall workforce may also provide additional information to support acquisition workforce efforts. However, these initiatives may not provide the comprehensive information DOD needs to manage and oversee its acquisition workforce. To manage their workforces, the leading organizations GAO reviewed (1) identify gaps in their current workforces by assessing the overall competencies needed to achieve business objectives; (2) establish mechanisms to track and evaluate the effectiveness of their initiatives to close these gaps; (3) take a strategic approach in deciding when to use contractor personnel to supplement the workforce, such as limiting the use of contractor personnel to performing noncore-business functions and meeting surges in work demands; and (4) track and analyze data on contractor personnel. These practices could provide insights to DOD as it moves forward with its acquisition workforce initiatives.