The massive restructuring required to stand up the Homeland Security Department--as mandated by the Department of Homeland Security Act of 2002--produced a contractor-heavy information technology workforce. 

According to DHS Chief Information Officer Richard Spires, there were 1,500 contractors and only 107 federal employees when he arrived at DHS in 2009. Spires spoke Oct. 11 in Washington, D.C., at an event called FedTalks.

Spires added that he's focused over the past two years on decreasing the agency's reliance on IT contractors; the number of federal IT workers is now 351, he added.

Workforce balance is also one of the first things Spires looks for when reviewing troubled programs, he said. "We were definitely missing key federal employees in some of these programs," Spires added.

"It's not that there's anything wrong with being a contractor, it's just that there's a lot we do, particularly with our oversight roles where a contractor cannot step into the shoes of a federal government employee and be successful," said Spires.

Recruiting the best and brightest IT workers is extremely important because of IT's role in driving "effectiveness and efficiency" in this budget-constrained environment, said Spires. DHS pushes its mission to the front of recruitment messaging. It's an easy sell because protecting the homeland is appealing, but other agencies should be doing more around mission to attract talent, he said.

"I just don't think government tells that story well enough," said Spires. "What we're really focused on right now is trying to really change the dynamic and make it attractive. Make it very attractive for young people coming out of school."

The IT Program Manager job series, announced May 31 by the Office of Personnel Management, will make government a more appealing place for IT workers, said Spires. DHS has also stood up an internal, year-long IT program manager course. "We're trying to use that as a lever to build better program managers internally and also attract people into the government who want to grow their careers."

For more:
- read the OPM memo
- go to the PMI website

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