Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he will convert 11,000 acquisition contracting jobs to Defense employees and hire 9,000 more government acquisition staff by 2015. He plans to start with 4,100 employees in fiscal 2010, the budget he presented at a news conference today.
You can read his full budget speech here.
In the speech, he signals he is serious about across-the-board acquisition reform saying:
The perennial procurement and contracting cycle – going back many decades – of adding layer upon layer of cost and complexity onto fewer and fewer platforms that take longer and longer to build must come to an end. There is broad agreement on the need for acquisition and contracting reform in the Department of Defense. There have been enough studies.  Enough hand-wringing. Enough rhetoric. Now is the time for action.
No Comments
I totally agree with Mr. Gate’s decision. Large contracting companies have tactics of upcharging for resources and handing the costs off to the government. In fact, many companies are in the habit of over charging.
You can hire me for a fraction of the cost of a contractor and I will do a better quality job and give you extended work hours for a GS 9/11/12 salary. In addition, you get a loyal and dedicated employee who cares more about producing quality results than how much money I can gouge out of the government.