Council gives workforce updates

2001 Update of the Plan for Implementing the Federal IT Workforce Challenge Recommendations

The CIO Council's Federal IT Workforce Committee this month released an update on the status of the many human capital initiatives under way throughout government as well as a list of areas for future action.

The committee's initiatives, often in partnership with the Office of Personnel Management, the General Services Administration and other agencies, address every area of the information technology workforce challenge.

The majority of the work in the three categories—workforce planning and management, recruitment and retention, and career development—is already completed. This includes the IT job classification and pay studies done by OPM, which are moving into place at agencies. The next steps in such areas depend on the findings as agencies start using the new tools, according to the report.

The initiatives under consideration for the future are to:

* Continue the development of career road map tools.

* Advocate training in project management skills so IT professionals can work with program officials that the technology supports.

* Recruit from nontraditional labor pools, such as the unemployed, minorities and people with disabilities.

The update comes shortly after the CIO Council and the National Academy of Public Administration released its recommendations for reforming the management of the federal IT workforce.

That report recommended a whole new human resources system, which would pay IT personnel on four market-based levels, giving federal managers more flexibility to set salaries and bonuses.