CIO Council initiates a study of federal IT pay
CIO Council initiates a study of federal IT pay
The Chief Information Officers Council will commission a National Academy of Public Administration study of federal information technology workers' pay.
The $410,400 study, to be conducted by NAPA's Center for Human Resources Management, will look at discrepancies between federal and private-sector salaries, council officials said.
Obvious resultThe council began eyeing the study more than a year ago, but some members questioned the need for a study that they contend will show the obvious: Federal systems workers are underpaid.
Department heads have long lamented the trouble they have recruiting qualified IT workers when a serious disparity exists between what they can offer and the incentives and pay available in the private sector.
The council's IT Workforce Committee projects that there will be a shortage of 37,000 high-tech workers by 2006.
The first part of the study will look at the need for a separate pay scale for IT workers, reviewing available data in addition to relying on information gathered during the process, CIO Council officials said. NAPA will also provide a cost-benefit analysis for creating a separate IT pay scale.
If the study determines that federal pay for IT workers isn't competitive, NAPA would then develop a proposal for creating a pay scale that would help agencies recruit and retain qualified staff members. The academy also would create a plan to implement the new pay scale.