Nearly a third of small federal contractors report being “stiffed” by large prime contractors in a teaming arrangement, according to a recent survey by American Express Open Forum.

In the survey of 740 small federal contractors, 29% reported they had experienced situations in which they participated as a subcontractor on a team that submitted the winning bid, but subsequently received no work and no payment through the contract.

While there could be legitimate reasons for fulfillment not panning out, many view such situations as a “bait and switch” in which a prime contractor takes advantage of federal agency incentives to award contracts to teams with small businesses, without really intending to share the work.

The likelihood of being stiffed increases with more experience: 38% of small contractors with 10 or more years of experience said they had been shut out of work after being a subcontractor on a winning team.

Even so, nearly half (48%) of the small contractors reported they have subcontracted successfully and derived an average of 25% of their procurement revenue from subcontracts.

Teaming was less common, reported by 27% of active small contractors, and averaging 9% of their procurement revenues, American Express reported.

Two industry sectors were most popular for small company subcontracting and teaming:information, including software and data processing; and professional/scientific/technical services, including computer systems design, engineering and research.