WORKFORCE EQUITY & DIVERSITY, CLIMATE CHANGE AMONG GSA LEADERSHIP’S PRIORITIES

Acting GSA Administrator Katy Kale and FAS Commissioner Sonny Hashmi recently outlined the agency’s top four priorities.  Contractors should take note and understand how each one may either directly or indirectly impact them.  First up is continued COVID-19 supportand, closely tied to it, bolstering economic recovery. While considerable effort has been put into meeting personal protective equipment (PPE) needs, this support could also include logistics assistance to other agencies as well as new methods to support a workforce that splits its time between office and remote locations. This could mean opportunities for contractors to provide GSA and its customers with a variety of logistics and remote workforce services.  That workforce, itself, may become more diverse and see increased advancement opportunities for women and minorities. Workforce diversity and equity are the second major goal. This may or may not change who contractors work with, but it is certainly an indication that GSA may be looking for the same types of initiatives in its contractor base.   Last, impacting climate change, possibly viagreen procurement, is making a comeback and could impact contractors in new ways.  Plans were being crafted toward the end of the Obama Administration, for example, that would have required contractors to not only report on the eco-friendliness of any goods they make, but on the green status of their office buildings, supply chains, and other business components.  Absent from the priorities was any specific mention of GSA’s need to improve acquisition outcomes or manage its still-substantial real estate holdings.  Either GSA leaders believe that these are so well handled now that they don’t require top-level attention, or these basic agency functions will be subordinate to the new priorities.