CIOs: Tech workers need better pay, not degrees

Government agencies need to change education requirements and increase pay and benefits in order to attract information technology workers to jobs in the federal government, participants in a panel on the IT workforce said Thursday.

"We should be more inclusive about who our IT workers are," said Miriam Browning, the Army's director of information management. "Whether it's a 19 year-old without a college degree or a degree holder, the government needs people with many different talents and we should welcome them all."

The panel included Gloria Parker, Chief Information Officer at the Housing and Urban Development, and Anne Armstrong, president of Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology. Panel members agreed that government must begin putting more weight on technical experience rather than ruling out workers who do not have academic degrees.

And even though the government will continue to outsource its IT requirements, there will always be a small cadre of IT professionals in government who are there to aid the business and leadership positions deemed inherently governmental, Browning said.

The panel also discussed bringing government more in line with the private sector when it comes to quality of life issues in the workplace. "Quality of life issues are hampering recruitment and retention of skilled individuals," Browning said.

Encouraging flexible hours, changing investment rules and loosening dress code requirements were all suggestions Browning had to improve the lot in life of government workers.

"Government pay needs to be reengineered," Browning said. "There is a problem when the government's salary for an entry-level IT worker is $25 thousand a year and the private sector pays that same individual $45 thousand per year to start."

Browning noted that the bonuses given to government employees are much less than their counterparts in the private sector. Plus, the money available for bonuses has gone down, Browning said.

The panel also focused on streamlining federal hiring processes. Browning suggested that agencies needed to get rid of outdated position descriptions as well as accelerate the time it takes to grant security clearances. People don't want to wait six months to see if they qualify for a government job, Browning said.

"We need to get to a point where we can make job offers within a week and have that new employee able to start within a month," Browning said.

Browning made her remarks at the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association's Virtual Government 2000 conference in Washington, D.C.