20,000 procurement staff needed at Pentagon

Thu, 07 May 2009 13:29:32 +0000

The defence department of president Barack Obama’s plans to create 20,000 new procurement roles to help revolutionise how it will buy more than $100bn worth of weaponry each year.

The news is part of a wider transformation of US defence procurement, which includes pledges to tie contract fees more closely to performance and to enter into long-term deals only when “real, substantial” savings are evident for taxpayers.

The developments are in stark contrast to the defence procurement strategy of Obama’s predecessor, president George Bush, and were announced by deputy defence secretary William Lynn. He said that the jobs would be created over the next five years, and that 9,000 of the new roles would be created at two Pentagon agencies charged with auditing and managing contracts for all spend.

“This unprecedented, five-year planned workforce initiative will result in a properly sized, well-trained, capable and ethical workforce,” Lynn told the Washington Post. The new jobs will redress the balance between permanent employees and consultants to 147,000 full time and 41,000 consultancy staff, to create an integrated staff of 188,000.

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20,000 procurement staff needed at Pentagon