Executive Branch workers and Contractors speak out! 

This phrase may have neither the panache nor the punch of the “workers of the world unite” slogan, but that’s OK because we’re neither communists nor proletarians.  We’re either producers (workers) or consumers (taxpayers) of government.  From protecting against another September 11 attack to ensuring trash is collected from our abodes, Executive Branch work has direct, immediate, and significant impact.  Government operations matter.

This Forum is designed to engage those within and outside government to address and achieve the best possible service for the taxpayer, most effective program execution, and highest degree of workforce pride.  

It’s a big task, but then it’s a big government, isn’t it?

Let’s build a history, perspective, and pathway for key issues affecting policymakers, workers, and taxpayers.  We can benefit from our collective experience. 

One of today’s big questions is use of contractor services.  What are the benefits and costs of hiring a contractor workforce?  Is it really cheaper, quicker, and better?  Some believe contractors don’t always have the needed skills to perform the job.  Others counter that agencies can’t immediately secure employees with 30 years of relevant experience except through the contracting out route.

My experience is that for years Requests For Proposal (RFPs) were issued, calling for special goods and services to achieve program objectives.  When I was employed at IRS, such contracts usually resulted in phone equipment or computer programming for management information reports or the like.  Some contractor support existed to fix identified software bugs, but these folks didn’t usually work side-by-side with federal employees in government space.  Now, contracts come with non-federal employees doing the actual office work that employees once performed.

When did this happen?  In IRS, my memory recalls it occurring with the massive computer systems modernization effort in the late 1990s.  Many are unaware that IRS has been trying to significantly upgrade its 1960s-based computer systems since the early 1970s, yet the surge in contractor support took years to materialize. 

In my last agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, where government employees were called “govvies” and non-federal staff were referred to as FTEs, I noticed there a much greater dependency on contractors and, until recent questions were raised in the counterintelligence arena, the phenomenon seemed destined to continue unabated.

Throughout my government career, I’ve detected varying degrees of animosity towards contractors, in part because many federal employees felt that these employees were better paid to perform similar or identical tasks.  Others felt that contracting firms merely parroted back findings that management wished them to validate.  A smaller portion welcomed the new perspective that third parties added.

Through your responses, we can build a history of contractor support to the government and a case – pro and con, cost effective or not – for decision makers in the Executive and Legislative branches to consider as they determine the future of federal, state, and local government.

Please add your voice to this important discussion. 

Fred Apelquist, contributing editor

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