2021 will have been the year of all records for Quebec City’s dependence on external management of its computer works. Some 33% of the resources used in the past year were subcontractors, while nearly 1,200 positions remain vacant, an unprecedented number.
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The annual portrait of the information technology workforce made public by the Ministry of Cybersecurity and Digital demonstrates that despite years of recriminations in the opposition, the Legault government is not doing better than its predecessors.
On the contrary.
The Coalition Avenir Québec took over the reins of government in 2018 when 2,552 external resources were hired in information technology, or 28.4% of the total workforce. Four years later, nearly 1,000 external resources have been added, the ratio jumping to 32.6%.
And the picture is hardly any brighter in terms of vacant positions, a reality that forces continual recourse to outsiders. When he took office, the Legault government had before it 991 IT positions to fill throughout the government apparatus, a number which climbed to 1,162 at the last report.
This data has been compiled since 2015 for positions subject to the Act respecting the governance and management of information resources (LGGRI) which targets certain organizations and departments, which notably excludes the education network and the health and services network. social (CISSS and CIUSSS). Released quietly last April, the lackluster report had so far gone under the radar.
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From sheriff to minister
However, in opposition, the current Minister of Cybersecurity and Digital Éric Caire has often been critical of previous governments.
“There are consultants who have been there for so long that they are confused with civil servants,” he balked at the Liberal government during Philippe Couillard’s last term.
The “Sheriff Cairo”, as he was nicknamed at the time, even proposed in 2015, in a 36-measure pact to “end the chronic performance deficit”, to replace 30% of private IT consultants with internal resources.
But we have to admit that the situation, rather than improving under his reign, got worse. In fact, the number of external subcontractors and their ratio versus internal state employees have continued to increase since the CAQ government took office in 2018.
At the Régie du bâtiment du Québec (RBQ), nearly 60% of IT positions are occupied by subcontractors. And in key government agencies such as the SAAQ and the Departments of Justice and Transport, the percentage of external resources fluctuates between 45% and 50%.
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hands in candy dish
The Syndicate of Public and Parapublic Service of Quebec (SFPQ) strongly denounces what it describes as “an admission of failure” for the government, but even more so for Minister Caire.
“Halloween is coming, but there, we are no longer just at the door to give candy to private subcontractors, we give them the key by telling them to come and help themselves directly inside. The problem is that they pick up the candies, but they are also leaving with the furniture and everything in the government house”, image the president of the union Christian Daigle.
The latter maintains that if Quebec had improved its working conditions internally, the bill would not be as high for taxpayers today. (See other text below.) He therefore invites the CAQ to assume its responsibilities and finally take measures to raise the bar.
“Any government that takes power tomorrow morning has the opportunity to turn things around in a year in our view, but do they have the will to do it? That’s the question that must be asked, ”insists the union, adding that the government no longer has the luxury of laying the largesse of the balance sheet on the backs of its predecessors.
“They have been in power for four years, they no longer have those excuses.”
At the end of the evening on Tuesday, neither the Ministry of Cybersecurity and Digital nor the cabinet of Minister Éric Caire had answered the questions of the Log.
2015
- Internal: 5,889 (66.4%)
- External: 2,976 (33.6%)
- Vacancies: 486
2016
- Internal: 5,973 (71.4%)
- External: 2388 (28.6%)
- Vacancies: 707
2017
- Internal: 6,185 (72.9%)
- External: 2,297 (27.1%)
- Vacancies: 876
2018
- Internal: 6,427 (71.6%)
- External: 2552 (28.4%)
- Vacancies: 991
2019
- Internal: 6,749 (70.8%)
- External: 2,787 (29.2%)
- Vacancies: 842
2020
- Internals: 6,967 (69.9%)
- External: 3141 (31.1%)
- Vacancies: 971
2021
- Internal: 7,134 (67.4%)
- External: 3455 (32.6%)
- Vacancies: 1162
Sources: Ministry of Cybersecurity and Digital and Treasury Board Secretariat
Programming
66.2%
Project support
62.5%
Management project
56.7%
Technology infrastructure architecture
54.8%
Architecture of security
53.2%
Architecture process
52%
Source: Ministry of Cybersecurity and Digital
Working conditions, source of the problem according to the union
The Syndicat de la fonction publique et parapublique du Québec (SFPQ) continues to hammer home the same message in connection with dependence on the private sector in information technology: as long as working conditions in the public service do not improve, Quebec will always be the private thank you.
“The last negotiation, like the others before, did not make it possible to catch up with the private sector, or even to make a semblance of catching up”, deplores the president of the SFPQ, Christian Daigle.
And all the while, talent is leaving, vacancies are piling up, and the government is mired in dependence on the private sector.
“There are a lot of departures and it continues. People who are not hired directly in the private sector come to gain experience in the public sector and then go find a job elsewhere,” says Mr. Daigle.
catch up
However, there are many interesting government IT jobs, insists the SPFQ. And the possibility of moving between ministries to vary the challenges and opportunities is a real argument for the government, unfortunately weighed down by conditions below those of the private sector.
“There are so many different systems, challenges, different positions, someone looking for a challenge, the public service is great and it has to be said. The problem is that the conditions are not correctly attributed, ”explains Christian Daigle, adding that he understands this decision to leave IT professionals.
“We can’t blame them, they will choose something that will bring them more and that will allow them to live better.”
And the context of labor shortage will do nothing to help the government in its quest to reduce dependence on subcontractors. “We should have moved a few years ago because there, it will be difficult to poach people from the private sector”, observes the SFPQ.