Friday, March 04, 2011
[IWS] CCPA (Canada): The Shadow Public Service: The swelling ranks of federal government outsourced workers [3 March 2011]
IWS Documented News Service
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Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
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Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
The Shadow Public Service: The swelling ranks of federal government outsourced workers [3 March 2011]
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/shadow-public-service
or
[full-text, 28 pages]
About this Publication
If the federal government wants to get serious about spending controls, it needs to look critically at its ballooning outsourcing costs. This study finds that over the past five years, personnel outsourcing costs have risen 79%. While federal departments have had their budgets capped, expenditures on outside consultants have not been touched and remain above $1 billion a year.
The growing and concentrated nature of outsourcing has created a shadow public service that works alongside the real public service—but without the same hiring practices or transparency requirements. This study makes specific recommendations to help curb rising costs and make better use of the resources the government already has.
5 Executive Summary
6 Introduction
6 How Ottawa Makes Use of Outsourcing
7 Areas of Focus
9 The Costs of Outsourcing
Contracts Signed vs. Amount Spent
Winning Contract Value vs. Final Contract Value
13 Biggest Outsourcing Departments
15 Top Outsourcing Companies
The IT-SSO Initiative
17 Why Outsourcing is Expanding
Outsourcing Makes Management Easier…for Managers…and at a cost
Federal Government Hiring is Cumbersome
Bilingualism and Meritocracy
18 Hidden Costs of Outsourcing
Institutional Knowledge
Change Fees and Future Needs
Privacy, Security and Transparency
19 Recommendations
20 Conclusion
22 Appendix 1: Data Sources & Methodology
24 Notes
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Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
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