Number of Contracting Professionals Increases

According to a new report, the government continues to increase the total number of contracting professionals in the acquisition workforce.

The Office of Federal Procurement Policy released the Annual Report on the Federal Acquisition Workforce showing the government hired more that 2,600 new employees into the contracting field for FY2006. This hiring resulted in the net increase of approximately 350 people since FY2005 and 1,200 people since FY2000.

"The report provides vital statistics on the current acquisition workforce, and this information assists agencies in identifying hiring needs and implementing appropriate workforce management initiatives," said Paul Denett, Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy. "The contracting function is critical to ensuring agencies meet their mission needs efficiently, effectively, and responsibly."

The federal government now has approximately 28,000 contracting professionals in the GS-1102 series--almost 19,000 in the Department of Defense, and 9,000 in civilian agencies. For the full report, click here.

The report, which is based on data obtained from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), was prepared by the Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI) and provide acquisition demographics and trend information that federal managers can use to forecast human capital needs in the contracting field and other acquisition-related disciplines.

For example, the report shows that the average retirement eligibility for contracting professionals increases from 29 percent in FY2011 to 50 percent in FY2016, though these figures are higher in certain agencies.

FAI has produced annual acquisition reports since 1976 and all reports will soon be available at www.fai.gov. Additional workforce information and data can be found on OPM's FedScope site at www.opm.gov/feddata.