The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a joint memo to agency heads on Wednesday, sharing additional details on the planned single, modern Core Human Capital Management (Core HCM) platform.
OPM announced the initiative back in October, which aims to consolidate at least 119 federal human resources systems into a single platform.
“For too long, taxpayers have footed the bill for duplicative HR systems that no modern organization would tolerate,” OPM Director Scott Kupor said in a Dec. 11 press release.
“By consolidating more than 100 systems into a single, modern HR platform, we are delivering billions in savings while giving agencies the tools they need to manage the federal workforce as one coordinated enterprise,” Kupor said. “This is exactly the kind of smart, cost-saving reform the American people expect and deserve.”
OPM published a final request for proposals to SAM.gov on Oct. 17 for a secure, cloud-based HCM platform that can support the entire government.
According to the joint memo issued this week, OPM is leading the procurement effort with the goal of government-wide adoption by fiscal year (FY) 2028. However, the effort will not initially include military personnel and intelligence community agencies.
The transition to the Core HCM platform will be divided into two waves, according to the memo. Wave 1 agencies will begin the transition in FY 2026, and they will include OPM, the departments of Homeland Security, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Interior, Transportation, Veterans Affairs, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Wave 2 agencies will follow in FY 2027 and include the departments of Commerce, Education, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, State, Energy, Justice, Defense, and Treasury, the Small Business Administration, the Social Security Administration, the General Services Administration, and NASA, among others.
OPM and OMB said the phased approach “will allow for significant interagency feedback and collaboration to help ensure successful implementation.”
The memo directs agencies to pause their own HCM procurement, development, and related modernization projects. Agencies may seek an exception if there is “a critical, time-sensitive update or need to modernize or procure a new Core HCM system prior to the adoption of the centralized Core HCM suite,” according to the memo.
Implementing the new system will serve as a cornerstone for the broader “Federal HR 2.0” initiative, according to OPM and OMB.
The memo also directs agencies to begin identifying personnel to support the HR 2.0 initiative, reviewing agency data and systems, developing change management systems, and working internally to prepare staff for the transition.
OMB and OPM said they will stand up a Federal HR 2.0 Advisory Board with key stakeholder agencies to assist with governance and change management.
Notably, recent research from MeriTalk, in partnership with Workday, found that 89% of federal HR leaders say outdated HR management systems hinder mission success.