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Grants and contracts were two common ways the federal government got pandemic relief money to the public.
Grants are a form of financial assistance from the federal government and do not have to be repaid. Contracts are an agreement between the federal government and a prime recipient to provide goods and services for a fee.
We surveyed 29 federal agencies to learn about their experiences taking
on this task. Our survey showed a sharp contrast in the challenges
faced by agencies' grants workforce compared to their contracts
workforce during the pandemic.
Read some key insights below:
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For your files 📂
Staffing was a bigger problem for grants workforces.
- Civilian agencies noted a 75% satisfaction rate with the levels of staffing for their contracts workforce. This compares to a 50% satisfaction rate from other agencies that managed grants workforce staffing levels during the pandemic.
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Grants workforces needed more IT resources.
- While the majority of contracts workforces were satisfied with their IT resources, over half of the respondents for grants workforces said they needed more, such as system upgrades.
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The majority of grants workforces were not satisfied with their training on how to award the pandemic-related grants.
- Only 45% of agencies reported a satisfactory level of training for their grants workforce compared to 70% of contract workforces saying that no additional training was necessary.
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Respondents were concerned about the large volume of grants.
- Federal grants increased by more than 76% from FY 2019 to FY 2021. This made it difficult to ensure that grantees used the funds for their authorized purposes.
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Read the full report to find out how the challenges these workforces faced resulted in creative new strategies. |
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If you want to learn about how other critical workforces were impacted by the pandemic, read our recent report with insights about
staffing shortages in health care.
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