Consolidation of HR Functions to Start in 2026, OPM and OMB Say – FEDweek

Federal agencies will start transitioning into a new centralized system of records for human capital management next year, with the transition to be completed in fiscal 2027, OPM and OMB have said in a joint memo.
The “CORE HCM” system will encompass functions including personnel action processing, employee system of record, position management, employee and manager self-service, analytics and dashboards, time and attendance, and learning, the memo says, and will “serve as a cornerstone for the broader ‘Federal HR 2.0’ initiative, creating efficiencies in federal human capital management and facilitating more effective management of the federal workforce as a unified entity.”
“The Core HCM system will integrate with other federal HR IT systems (such as payroll, benefits, talent acquisition, performance management, and retirement) to ensure a seamless flow of information across various HR functions. The system will include comprehensive security controls to protect employee information,” it adds.
OPM earlier had posted a solicitation to potential contractors for such a system.
Actions for agencies to begin taking now include identifying appropriate personnel to support HR 2.0, reviewing agency data and systems, developing change management strategies, and working internally to prepare staff for migration, the memo says. Agencies in the first wave are to include DHS, USDA, HHS, Interior, Transportation, VA, EPA and OPM.
Said OPM director Scott Kupor in a posting, “The ideal ‘to be’ state is a single, pan-government core HCM system that gives the federal government full, real-time visibility into its workforce and drives effective workforce management on behalf of the American taxpayer. Key to this ideal is our hypothesis that one system at government-wide scale will drive significant per-user cost savings over the current siloed, duplicative, ad-hoc landscape.”
As he had in previous postings, Kupor said there are more than 100 human capital management systems across agencies and that they do not communicate well with each other. That forces HR officials to “navigate thickets of outdated and duplicative technology systems, hindering their efficiency and effectiveness, and doubtlessly frustrating them in the process,” he wrote.
The lack of coordination also requires OPM to “spend an excessive amount of time and money working with multiple agencies’ HR staff” to assemble a new retiree’s total work history, which “leads to unnecessary delays in enabling a seamless transition to retirement,” he wrote.
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