'Competitive Sourcing' Memo Causes a Little Stir at the Forest Service

Bill Dougan , president of the National Federation of Federal Employees' Forest Service Council, said the original memo shows that the job competitions are "politically motivated. . . . The heat is on for more competitive sourcing."

Forest Service employees, though, appear to be holding their own in the job competitions. The Forest Service has conducted 171 job studies, and 162 of the job reviews ended with the work staying in house. "It's a testament to the quality of the workforce," Pyron said.

But the job reviews won by in-house teams also have led to downsizing.

The Forest Service, for example, studied its technology infrastructure and the way it supports desktop computers, a review that involved 1,200 agency jobs. A restructuring to be completed in 18 months should produce savings of about $30 million in annual operating costs and will lead to a cut of 292 jobs, Pyron said.

Comparable savings will result from "business process reengineering" studies of budget, finance and personnel operations, with projections showing that 502 jobs will be lost in financial management and 458 jobs in human resources.

In addition to the 100 jobs in communications this year, the Forest Service in fiscal 2006 plans to look at 65 jobs in vehicle fleet services, 88 in computer services and database management, and about 500 in mapping and charting. For 2007-08, the agency will review 460 jobs in fire prevention and protection.

"The goal is to use the most effective delivery mechanism, and you don't know if you can save money until you do studies," Pyron said.

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