Feds Continue Winning Streak in Job Competitions Federal employees continued to win more than 80% of jobs in public-private job competitions in fiscal 2004, according to figures compiled by the Office of Management and Budget. David Safavian, administrator of OMB’s Office of Federal Procurement Policy, told contractor groups the figures, due for public release shortly, will show 80% to 90% of competitions were won by in-house teams, Government Executive magazine reported. Contractor organizations said such a slim chance of winning will likely discourage some companies from submitting offers in job competitions. OMB earlier reported that federal employees won 89% of competitions in 2003. (SAA, 5/28/04) Safavian projected savings from the 2004 competitions will add up to $1.25 billion over three to five years, up from $1.1 billion in estimated savings the previous year. Federal employee unions dispute those claims. In an interview with the magazine, Safavian said OMB is considering resuming the practice of allowing agencies to contract out the work of small units, those with fewer than 10 employees, without competition. This practice, known as direct conversion, was ended in 2003 when OMB rewrote its Circular A-76, the rulebook for job competitions. Safavian said direct conversions might be justified when an agency decides that a certain “business line” is not part of its core mission. He emphasized that no final decision has been made. Safavian said OMB has commissioned a study of the accounting used in calculating agencies’ in-house costs. The government uses a 12% overhead rate in job competitions. The Center for Naval Analyses is looking into the accuracy of that rate. Previous studies have criticized it as arbitrary.