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**Assessing Today's IT Workforce**

USDA recently participated in the first ever, federal-wide information
technology (IT) workforce skills assessment. The skills assessment was
sponsored by the Federal Chief Information Officers (CIO) Council, the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the Office of Personnel
Management (OPM). The web-based assessment survey was designed to
collect information from federal IT employees regarding:

-   Demographic information such as age and occupational series,

-   Current proficiency in a variety of competencies and skills,

-   Certifications held, and

-   Time spent on a series of "specialized job activities."

**Drivers for IT Workforce Planning**

The survey satisfied the E-Government Act (Section 209) of 2002
requirement to analyze the personnel needs of the federal government
relating to IT and information resources management, as well as the
annual requirement of the Clinger-Cohen Act (CCA) to assess the
competencies\* and skills\*\* of the federal IT workforce. Survey
results will also serve as critical input in the development of a USDA
IT Workforce Strategy in support of the Departmental Human Capital Plan.

**Defining the IT Workforce**

The survey was completely anonymous and voluntary, and targeted
employees in IT and IT-related positions. Although they are an integral
part of the IT workforce, contractor personnel were not surveyed.
Occupational series used to identify the appropriate survey audience
included the following traditional IT series:

GS-0334 Computer Specialist

GS-0391 Telecommunications

GS-0854 Computer Engineering

GS-1550 Computer Science

GS-2210 Information Technology Management

Other (including GS-0332, GS-0335, etc.)

Select individuals from "non-traditional" IT series such as GS-0301
(Misc. Administration and Program) and GS-0343 (Management & Program
Analysis) were also included in the survey audience.

**Survey Statistics**

The survey typically took 15-20 minutes to complete. Response rates
varied by agency; several agencies had over 50% participation and one
agency achieved over 60% participation. Across USDA, over 1,600 IT
employees completed the survey, approximately 34% of the target
population. USDA's 34% response rate was noticeably higher than the 26%
average response rate across the federal IT workforce and is considered
a relatively strong response rate for a voluntary survey.

**Survey Demographics**

The survey included demographic questions relating to age, grade, years
of government service, years of IT industry experience, planned
retirement, and other factors. Based on the responses, a profile of the
"Typical USDA IT Worker" emerged (see Figure 1).

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| ######## The Typical USDA IT Worker...                                |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| ...is between 46 and 50 years of age                                  |
|                                                                       |
| ...is a GS-12                                                         |
|                                                                       |
| ...has over 20 years of Federal Government experience                 |
|                                                                       |
| ...has little to no private sector experience                         |
|                                                                       |
| ...holds a Bachelor's Degree                                          |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

**Figure 1.**

Based on survey responses across the entire federal IT workforce, the
"Average Federal IT Worker" has a similar profile to USDA's average IT
worker, but is slightly more senior, is more likely to have an advanced
degree, has *fewer* years of Federal service and *more* years of private
sector experience, and is more likely to consider leaving the
organization in the short term.

**Top Level Assessment**

The survey asked respondents to self-assess their current proficiency in
a set of 16 general and 53 technical competencies, using a six-point
scale (0-5). The competencies included in the survey are a subset of the
competencies that make up the GS-2210 occupational series, and can be
mapped back to other job functions and series. The top 10 technical and
top 10 general competencies of the USDA's IT surveyed-population (based
on average proficiency) are shown in figures 2 and 3.

![](media/image2.wmf)

![](media/image3.wmf){width="3.3in" height="2.05in"}**Figure 3.**

The survey also included 80 IT-related skills and 46

certification areas. Figure 4 shows the top 10 certification areas and
indicates the number of survey respondents certified in each area; the
percentage of overall survey respondents certified, based on 1,638 total
respondents; and the ranking of the number of employees who hold the
certification.

> ![](media/image4.wmf){width="3.290277777777778in"
> height="1.8in"}**Figure 4.**

Additionally, the survey asked respondents to estimate the amount of
time they spend (extensive, moderate, or minimal/none) on 10 different
"specialized job activities." Figure 5 shows the number of respondents
(out of 1,638) who spend an extensive amount of time on each activity.

![](media/image5.wmf){width="3.3in" height="2.4125in"}**Figure 5.**

## 

## The Analysis Phase

As noted, the survey collected the respondents' estimates and/or
self-assessment of their proficiency in general and technical
competencies, proficiency in IT-related skills, certifications held, and
amount of time spent on specialized job activities. When survey data are
paired with other indicators such as the Federal Information Security
Management Act (FISMA) and the Capital Asset Plan and Business Case
(Exhibit 300s), a more comprehensive view of the actual "bench strength"
of USDA's IT workforce is provided. By linking proficiency in related
competencies and skills to the amount of time spent on each activity,
one can infer whether the workforce has adequate skills and competencies
given its workload, or if there are critical gaps.

## Survey Conclusions

USDA's IT workforce is tenured and experienced; around 11% plan to
retire within 3 years, including a large number of GS-15 and SES
employees. That percentage is even higher within certain agencies,
including the Rural Housing Service, Office of the Chief Information
Officer, and National Agricultural Statistics Service. Planned
retirement trends will be a critical input to workforce planning.

USDA's IT workforce has a relatively high level of proficiency in
several of the most important technical competencies, but needs
competency development in several other important IT areas. For example,
survey results indicate potential skill gaps related to IT security,
enterprise architecture, and knowledge management (e.g. Portal
Development, Groupware) in many agencies. By comparison, proficiency in
general competencies is uniformly stronger.

There are higher competency and skill proficiency in key areas within
certain USDA agencies. Awareness of where strength, capabilities, and
areas of expertise exist and do not exist will be crucial inputs to
Department-wide workforce planning efforts.

For example, the majority of employees holding certifications in
critical areas such as project management, IT security, and
solutions/enterprise architecture work within the Farm Service Agency,
Food and Nutrition Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service,
Office of the Chief Financial Officer, and Office of the Chief
Information Officer (OCIO). OCIO will work with the USDA agencies to
determine if additional policies and strategies are needed in the area
of IT certification.

**Next Steps**

Workforce planning and management are key elements of USDA's Human
Capital Plan. USDA's OCIO and Office of Human Resources Management
(OHRM) are now using the survey results in conjunction with other data
to help develop a USDA IT Workforce Strategy in support of the USDA
Human Capital Plan. Agency-specific data are available for participating
organizations to conduct additional analyses.

The Federal CIO Council and OPM will sponsor their next annual survey in
the summer, 2004. Each agency's assessment of their current workforce
will help identify skills imbalances, as well as areas where strategic
competencies may lack the depth necessary to attain agency priorities.
USDA looks forward to participating in this survey and increasing the
response rate of our IT employees. OCIO will contact your agency in the
coming weeks to help the Department move forward in this process.