Government Staffing Contracts

Register your business on SAM.gov with NAICS 561320 (Temporary Help Services). The most important next step is applying for a GSA Multiple Award Schedule contract — this opens access to federal agencies across the government without individual competition for each placement. The GSA Schedule application requires past performance references, auditable financial records, and competitive pricing documentation. Plan for a 3–6 month application process. While waiting for your Schedule, you can pursue individual solicitations posted on SAM.gov.

A GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) is a long-term contract that pre-approves your company to provide services at negotiated rates to any federal agency. For staffing, having a GSA Schedule is effectively required to win significant federal revenue — agencies strongly prefer to use existing vehicles rather than conduct new competitions. Once on the Schedule, you can receive task orders from agencies government-wide. The Schedule does not guarantee work; you still need to market your services and respond to task order requests.

Uncleared staffing places workers without security clearances in roles that handle only unclassified information — administrative support, customer service, help desk, and most civilian agency positions. Cleared staffing places workers with active security clearances (Secret, Top Secret, TS/SCI) in roles at DoD, intelligence agencies, and classified programs. Cleared staffing bill rates are 40–100% higher than comparable uncleared positions. To place cleared workers, your company needs a Facility Security Clearance (FCO) sponsored by a federal agency or prime contractor.

Government staffing contracts are typically priced as Labor Hour or Time & Materials contracts. Bill rates include the worker's base wages, payroll taxes, benefits, workers' compensation, unemployment insurance, overhead, and profit margin. Typical loaded markup over direct labor cost is 35–60% depending on benefits level and company overhead. GSA Schedule labor categories have published ceiling rates — your negotiated rates must be at or below these ceilings. Margins in federal staffing typically run 8–18% of revenue.

The biggest challenges are: lengthy procurement cycles (6–18 months from opportunity identification to first placement); key person clauses that bind specific individuals to contracts (risky if people leave); rapid staffing requirements that can be difficult to fulfill; and intense competition from established firms on GSA Schedule recompetes. Cash flow management is also challenging since you pay workers weekly but bill agencies on net-30 terms. Many smaller staffing firms use invoice factoring to bridge this gap.