JUNE 14, 2024 – The Air Force Materiel Command is expanding its Acquisition Workforce Personnel Demonstration Project, with a target date for converting all eligible General Schedule employees by June 2025.
“Our mission requires us to attract and retain exceptional top talent, and AcqDemo is our vehicle to get there using 21st century hiring tools and techniques,” said Lorna Estep, AFMC executive director, in a memorandum to staff. “AcqDemo aims to provide a system that retains, recognizes and rewards employees for their contributions, and supports their personal and professional development.”
There are currently more than 26,500 Department of the Air Force employees in the Acquisition Demonstration Project, with Air and Space Force personnel comprising 46% of the total Department of Defense AcqDemo population. Approximately 26,000 AFMC positions will convert in 2025.
AFMC began advertising and filling eligible vacant bargaining unit positions as AcqDemo in October 2023. The AcqDemo workforce will continue to grow through attrition, leading up to the current GS workforce converting in June 2025.
The 2025 conversion will affect eligible GS employees in bargaining and non-bargaining units across all AFMC installations. Exceptions to conversion include:
- Personnel in ranks above GS-15, such as Senior Executive Staff
- Non-GS employees, such as Federal Wage System employees, leaders and supervisors
- Employees in organizations already participating in another personnel system, including their respective GS employees. Examples include the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Air Force Laboratory Personnel Demonstration Project, and intelligence personnel participating in the Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel System
- Locations that have not completed labor negotiations with the local union
“AcqDemo gives AFMC the flexibility to attract, incentivize, and retain the exceptional talent needed to maintain our nation’s competitive edge,” said Amanda Stroop, AFMC Personnel Demonstration Programs Branch chief. “Some major benefits of AcqDemo include pay setting flexibilities, a more simplified classification system, contribution-based performance assessment and more. We feel this conversion will positively benefit our command and the workforce.”
AcqDemo consists of three separate career paths and associated pay schedules. Employees are classified as Business and Technical Management Professionals (NH), Technical management Support (NJ) or Administrative Support (NK) based on their specific career series. Each career path consists of four broadbands – I, II, III, IV – designed to facilitate pay progression and internal assignment of duties, and to allow for more competitive recruiting of quality candidates at differing pay rates.
Pay increases are linked directly to individual performance ratings, with the opportunity for employees to earn Contribution Rating Increases annually. This differs from the GS workforce which is subject to multi-year periods between higher-level step increases and a two-year waiting requirement for Quality Step Increases.
While terminology, rating cycles, rewards, classification and staffing, and support tools will change with the AcqDemo expansion, benefits and general labor processes will remain the same. This includes retirement, health insurance, life insurance and other benefits; leave and work schedules; travel allowances; Veterans’ preference; merit system principles; prohibited personnel practices and anti-discrimination laws; and more.
Employees will continue to be covered by the Master Labor Agreement and any other collective bargaining agreement.
To learn more about AcqDemo, visit here. The site includes information, definitions, training modules and more. A conversion calculator is available here.
Extensive training for all AFMC employees, supervisors, and pay pool administrators will be conducted over the next year to ensure the workforce is informed of the upcoming change. Employees are encouraged to work with their supervisors and to watch for upcoming training events.
For additional information on AcqDemo, employees can also view the AFMC AcqDemo SharePoint site (CAC-enabled) here.
By Marisa Alia-Novobilski
Air Force Materiel Command