The Push to Expand Defense Acquisition WorkforceJune 05, 2009

 

When Defense Secretary Robert Gates submitted his fiscal year 2010 defense budget request in April, it showed an attempt to shift priorities from lumbering, expensive cold war weapons systems to lighter, affordable weapons better suited for unconventional wars.

To support his goals, the budget proposed increasing the size of the defense acquisition workforce, converting 11,000 contractors and hiring an additional 9,000 government-employed acquisition professionals by 2015 – beginning with 4,100 in 2010.

Yet, despite the freefalling economy and rising unemployment rates, experts believe that recruiting employees to fill these positions is the Achilles' heel in Gates' plan to reshape the way the department acquires weapons.

A number of factors make it difficult to recruit people for critical senior positions, says Peter Metzger, a vice chair at the executive search firm CTPartners, from conflicts of interests to low pay scales.

The recruiting effort becomes even more critical given that "There are about twice as many people over 50 as there are under 30 in the government workforce," said Stan Soloway, chief executive of Professional Services Council, a national trade association of government professional and technical services industry, based in Arlington, Virginia. "That's not just a demographic problem, but by definition it creates a skill gap." Read the full interview here.