Doan: Employee buyouts not a first option
She plans to defer decisions about such offers to Jim Williams, head of the Federal Acquisition Service.
Lurita Doan, administrator of the General Services Administration, said in an interview today that she would defer decisions about employee early-outs and buyouts to Jim Williams, head of the Federal Acquisition Service.
Doan said new lines of business might mean employees need to be reassigned, not bought out.
Cutting employees is not the first option to generate agency revenue, she said.
“I believe, especially when you are in the service industry, people are your greatest asset,” Doan said.
Earlier this year, the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget authorized GSA to offer early-out and buyout packages to 395 employees. In June, GSA officials said 150 employees had accepted the offers, fewer than some officials expected.
The packages were authorized for parts of the Federal Supply Service’s Office of Global Supply and parts of the Federal Technology Service.
GSA’s business revenue has dropped in the past two fiscal years. Its Information Technology Solutions business is projected to fall about 40 percent between fiscal 2004 and fiscal 2006.
In her first sit-down interview with the press, Doan spoke with Federal Computer Week about issues pertinent to GSA. She has less than two and a half years to turn GSA into the premier service agency — one of her main objectives.
“When you hire people do to jobs, you do try to let them do it,” Doan said, adding that Williams has superior skills.