The need to boost the government's it capabilities is strong. As the case study suggests, when government organizations fall behind consumer it standards and expectations, trust in the public sector dwindles. Issues related to systems design and security are top priorities for the public sector, based on its core values such as "insuring public safety, justice, and environmental quality," (p. 184). If it needs cannot be met with the existing pool of domestic labor, and if the merit system fails to attract the quality of personnel needed to fulfill an organization's goals, then bypassing the merit system becomes the only solution. Government agencies can effectively bypass the merit system while at the same time holding true to merit system ideals. The textbook chapter points out that immigration is the "chief cause of population and workforce growth in the decades ahead. Immigrants competing for skilled jobs in the it sector should also have the "knowledge, skills, and abilities" that are expected of any applicant in the government's merit system (p. 185). Immigrant workers who are highly skilled in their fields can offer the same caliber work as their domestic counterparts but with the same core problem: those highly skilled workers are easily wooed by the private sector. The case study also indicates that public sector agencies cannot count on offering improved training programs for highly motivated inside personnel because once those personnel advance...

Thus, the expense of training the next generation of it workers would fall in the hands of the taxpayer and the government's it infrastructure would still lag behind that of the private sector.
Temporary and immigrant labor seems to be a simple short-term solution to the it labor shortage. A global marketplace underscores the need to be open to the possibility of immigrant it contract work. Although more expensive in the short run, in the long run those highly skilled contract workers can provide much-needed infrastructure, system, and security upgrades. The case study does reveal several possible drawbacks to relying on immigrant workers, whether temporary or permanent. One is that projects lack continuity; once the contract period is complete, the agency is faced with issues such as maintenance. Another problem with relying on temporary labor to fulfill short-term goals is the expense, and yet another is the low possibility of retaining a pool of highly skilled quality it workers. Short-term needs are met but at the expense of long-term solutions. Although not discussed in the case study, some public sector agencies also face the troubling proposition that temporary foreign workers pose a national security threat. However, temporary skilled foreign workers and creatively bypassing the merit-based Civil Service System seem like the most sensible solutions to the current economic and labor…