Federal officials say the acquisition workforce has been shrinking for years, but the issue is now a focal point of reports coming out of Washington concerning not just the Defense Dept. but all federal acquisition agencies.

The General Accountability Office says the government bought $400 billion in goods and services in FY2006 with 20,000 contracting specialists. The result is that a single contracting specialist is responsible for, on average, $20 million in expenditures. Half of these specialists can retire between now and 2016.

Both Congress and the administration say corrective actions are in place.  A new certification program designed to standardize training and experience has been created for contracting officers, program managers and technical representatives. Internships also have been set in place.  The Office of Personnel Management is using an audit of contracting competency to develop tailored programs to respond to deficiencies.

Frank Anderson, president of Defense Acquisition University, says by partnering with the Federal Acquisition Institute DAU has been able to expand training resources. Since 2005, there’s been a 529% increase in DAU certification graduations.