DOD warns against outsourcing

Tight budgets don't necessarily mean more outsourcing. A Defense Department official is reminding DOD agencies that an over-reliance on contractors isn't the answer.

Acting Defense Department Undersecretary Jo Ann Rooney issued a memo earlier this month instructing managers to watch out for inappropriate conversions of in-house work to contracted services, reports Charles S. Clark in Government Executive.

The department is currently precluded from holding public-private competitions, which is the only way work designated for civilian personnel can be converted to contract performance. "This prohibition applies to functions and work assigned to civilians, regardless of whether or not the position is encumbered," Rooney wrote.