While much attention across the federal community has been focused on the Office of Personnel Management’s strategy to consolidate 119 different human capital systems across government, the agency, at the same time and with little fanfare, kicked off another major human resources modernization effort.

OPM is planning to revamp the USA Hire platform, which provides candidate-assessment tools for agency hiring managers, with the goal of making evaluations more efficient and leading to higher-quality applicants.

OPM, working with the General Services Administration, issued a request for information on Oct. 7 and has been meeting with vendors over the last few weeks to determine what commercial technologies and systems are available. The RFI closed on Oct. 21.

“This RFI is part of OPM’s ongoing effort to ensure agencies have access to cutting-edge, high-quality assessment tools that help identify and hire the best talent across the federal government—advancing a truly merit-based hiring system in line with the president’s Merit Hiring Plan and Executive Order 14170, Reforming the Federal Hiring Process and Restoring Merit to Government Service,” said an OPM spokesperson in an email to Federal News Network. “OPM also anticipates making additional improvements to USAJOBS and USA Staffing to enhance the applicant experience and better integrate assessments into job announcements.”

OPM says in fiscal 2024, USA Hire customer agencies used the program to assess approximately 1 million applicants for over 20,000 job opportunity announcements.  It provides off-the-shelf standard assessment tests covering more than 140 federal job series, access to test center locations worldwide and a broad array of assessment and IT expertise.

“USA Hire currently offers off-the-shelf assessment batteries covering over 800 individual job series/grade combinations, off-the-shelf assessment batteries covering skills and competencies shared across jobs (e.g., project management, writing, data skills, supervisory skills), and custom assessment batteries targeting the needs of individual agencies, access to test center locations worldwide, and a broad array of assessment and IT expertise,” OPM stated in the RFI.

In the RFI, OPM asked industry for details on the capabilities of their assessment systems, including:

• Delivering assessments in a secure, unproctored asynchronous environment
  Delivering online video-based interviews
• Using artificial intelligence/machine learning in assessment development and scoring
• Minimizing and/or mitigating applicant use of AI (e.g, AI chatbots) to improve assessment performance
• Integrating and delivering assessments across multiple assessment platform

“OPM seeks an assessment delivery system that can automatically score closed-end and open-ended responses, including writing samples. The online assessment platform shall be able to handle any mathematical formula for scoring purposes,” the RFI stated. “Based on the needs of USA Hire’s customers, OPM requires an assessment platform that supports static, multi-form, computer-adaptive (CAT), and linear-on-the-fly (LOFT) assessments delivered in un-proctored, in-person, and remote proctored settings.”

An industry executive familiar with USA Hire said OPM, through the RFI, seems to want to fix some long-standing challenges with the platform.

“RFI suggests OPM will allow third parties to integrate into USA Staffing, which has been a big problem for agencies who weren’t using USA Hire. But I’ll believe it when I see it,” said the executive, who requested anonymity in order to talk about a program they are involved with. “Agencies are not mandated to use USA Hire, but if they don’t use it, they can’t use USA Staffing because of a lack of integration.”

USA Staffing, like USA Hire, is run by OPM’s HR Solutions Office on a fee-for-service basis. The agency says it provides tools to help agencies recruit, evaluate, assess, certify, select and onboard more efficiently.

RFI is a good starting point

The executive said this lack of integration has, for some agencies, been a problem if they are using other assessment platforms.

For example, the Transportation Security Administration issued a RFI back in 2024 for an assessment capability only to decide to use USA Hire after doing some market research.

“USA Hire is adequate for most things the government does. It’s fine for certain types of programs, but if you get out of their swim lanes, they have trouble, especially with customization or configurations. I think getting HR Solutions to do any configurations or customization is a yeomen’s effort,” the executive said. “My concern about USA Hire is it’s a monopoly and when that happens any organization gets fat and lazy. Maybe the Department of Government Efficiency folks kicked them in the butt a little and that’s maybe why we are seeing the RFI.”

The executive said the RFI is a positive step forward.

“It could be good for some companies if it comes to fruition and OPM brings in a legitimate way for other providers with some unique competencies or services to expand the offering from USA Hire,” the executive said. “It’s too early to tell if there will be a RFP, but if they do come out what are they buying? Are they trying to bring on new assessment providers? I think a lot of us would like to know what OPM is looking for or what holes they are seeking to fill in these new solutions.”

Other industry sources say OPM has laid out a tentative schedule for a new USA Hire support services solicitation. Sources say OPM is planning to release a draft request for proposals in January with a final solicitation out in October.

This means an award will not happen before 2027.

“Due to the complexity of requirements and the amount of market research that needs to be conducted, the USA Hire PMO expects the competition timeline to be more than a year long,” OPM said in a justification and approval increasing the ceiling of the current USA Hire contract. “The government estimates that transition could take up to two years depending on the awardee’s solution.”

OPM adds $182M to current contract

OPM released the J&A at the same time it issued the RFI. In a justification and approval, OPM increased the ceiling of its current USA Hire support contract with PDRI, adding $182.7 million for a total contract value of $395 million.

OPM says the need to increase the ceiling is because of the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) adoption of USA Hire and its need to fill thousands of vacant positions after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Because of the EO, the need for USA Hire assessments has far exceeded the initial estimated amount, which has grown at a pace far faster than anticipated when the contract requirements and needs were first drafted and awarded,” OPM stated in the J&A. “OPM planned for the steady growth of USA Hire throughout all options of the contract; however, TSA alone has consumed 95% of the requirement in option year 2 and option year 3. The government issued a modification to realign ceiling value to support the additional assessments; however, the delivery of the assessments has increased significantly.”

An email to PDRI seeking comment on the increased ceiling and the RFI was not returned.

The OPM spokesperson said the agency expects the use of USA Hire to continue to grow over the next few years as agencies implement skills-based assessments as required under the Merit Hiring Plan and Chance to Compete Act.

OPM said in its J&A that it expects USA Hire to provide assessment services to 300,000 applicants for TSA, 10,000 entry level investigators for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with smaller customer agencies spanning cybersecurity positions, tax fraud investigations, entry level credit union examiners and HR specialists.

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As the federal government contends with tightening budgets, lean staffing and soaring citizen expectations, it faces a unique opportunity — and obligation — to modernize service delivery by investing in shared services. The notion of centralized provisioning might conjure up all sorts of challenges and issues; however, it is a proven avenue to lower costs, eliminate duplication and elevate service performance. While shared services isn’t the answer for all functions, we possess valuable learned lessons and survey feedback on shared services to create a powerful pathway to increase government effectiveness while lowering costs.

The federal government has demonstrated tangible benefits of shared services related to administrative systems. For example, between fiscal 2002 and 2015, consolidating payroll and HR systems generated more than $1 billion in cost savings and an additional $1 billion when 22 payroll systems were consolidated into four, according to the Government Accountability Office. A 2024 report published by the Federation of American Scientists noted that consolidating the payroll centers yielded cumulative savings exceeding $3.2 billion. Other measurable results include the General Services Administration’s fleet management program that consolidated more than 5,000 agency-owned vehicles on leasing, maintenance and administrative costs. Shared IT services have also expanded steadily, with the adoption of Login.gov, USAJOBS, and data center consolidation that saved over $2.8 billion, according to GAO and the Office of Management and Budget in 2020.

Why it matters — and why now

The federal government continues to advance priorities that improve citizen services while driving down costs as we enter the artificial intelligence era where AI, data and information are transforming industries, big data and human capabilities. Agencies are facing a pressing need to modernize IT systems, increase efficiencies by incorporating automation and AI, and increase cybersecurity. Without integrated business services, agencies will struggle to maintain infrastructure, secure their systems and modernize for the AI era. Consolidated IT investments, such as Login.gov and ID.me, have proven to provide stronger, more resilient platforms that enhance cybersecurity and protect mission-critical systems, provide standardized data and analytics and improve transparency.

Still, shared services must be implemented with care. Agencies need flexibility to select providers that best fit their mission-specific requirements. Focusing first on areas where agencies are already seeking solutions — such as accounting, fleet management and office space aligned by security requirements — offers a pragmatic path forward. Service providers must be held to strict performance standards, with service-level agreements ensuring that quality improves alongside efficiency. Equally important, strong leadership and coordination are necessary to sustain momentum.

Agencies like the Office of Personnel Management, GSA and Treasury, which have successfully acted as managing partners in the past, can provide the oversight and accountability required for long-term success. Rather than measuring Quality Service Management Offices (QSMOs) solely by their early momentum, their success should be understood in light of the current environment: smaller budgets, fewer staff and an increased focus on mission delivery. In this context, the adoption of integrated business services positions agencies for long-term gains.

Shared services provide the architecture for a more modern, efficient and mission-focused government. From payroll to fleet management to IT modernization, the federal government has demonstrated the value of this approach through billions of dollars in savings and significant performance improvements. With bipartisan policy support, proven blueprints and advances in shared platforms, the federal enterprise is well-positioned to expand shared services — carefully, collaboratively and with agency choice at its core. If pursued deliberately, shared services can become a cornerstone of fiscal responsibility and high-quality service delivery for the American people.

Erika Dinnie is the vice president of federal strategy and planning for MetTel. Before joining the company, Dinnie served as the General Services Administration’s associate chief information officer for digital infrastructure technologies for nearly 10 years, overseeing GSA’s IT infrastructure, systems, software and applications.

The post Unlocking efficiency: The case for expanding shared services first appeared on Federal News Network.