PEF Provides Cost Savings to State Information Technology Work Force

• by New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF)

ALBANY, NY (11/17/2009)(readMedia)-- The New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF) today provided examples of ways the state can save more than $100 million a year by shifting state information technology (IT) work back to state employees, rather than relying on more expensive private contractors.

Jim Blake, chairman of the PEF Statewide Information Technology Committee, testified at the Assembly hearing on Managing the State Information Technology Work Force. Blake provided cost comparisons to show how much the state can save by having state employees do the work currently being done at a much higher cost by consultants.

"In an apples-to-apples comparison, state IT workers are paid an average of $55 an hour, including benefits, to do the same work as an IT consultant who, on average, is paid $128 an hour. That's more than double the average state IT employee hourly rate," Blake said.

"The state can save between $110 million and $200 million a year by having state employees perform about half the work now done by IT consultants. Now is the time to turn the state's business back over to public servants at a savings to taxpayers," Blake said.

Blake, a technology specialist with the Division of Criminal Justice Services in Albany also encouraged lawmakers to pass Cost-Benefit Analysis legislation. The legislation would require state agencies, before entering into or extending any IT or other consultant contract, to perform and release an analysis that compares the cost of using state employees to do the work to the cost of using consultants to do the same work.

PEF is the state's second-largest, state employee union, representing 59,000 professional, scientific and technical employees, including 4,300 information technology professionals.

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