Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Procurement Temporary Staffing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board of Estimates approves $50 million Robert Half temporary-staffing contract after debate over timing and oversight
Summary
Baltimore City’s Board of Estimates approved a five‑year cooperative contract giving Robert Half up to $50 million in spend authority for temporary staffing. The vote followed extended questioning about timing, vendor selection, oversight and the city’s use of cooperative contracts; the comptroller and council president abstained.
Baltimore City’s Board of Estimates on Aug. 20 approved a five‑year cooperative contract giving Robert Half International up to $50,000,000 in spend authority for temporary staffing and related services.
Chief procurement officer Adam Manny told the board the contract, procured through the HGAC cooperative, would run from Aug. 20, 2025, to May 31, 2029, and that the city’s historical “burn rate” on temporary services is about $10,000,000 per year. “We are requesting the board's approval to award a contract to Robert Half for temporary services. It's a 5 year contract with a total spend authority of $50,000,000,” Manny said.
The board debated whether the item should have been deferred for additional review. Comptroller Bill Henry said he had hoped the administration would present the requested usage reports and analysis before awarding more authority. “When I was asking those questions several months ago, the hope was to have that information and review it and make those decisions before we committed to another $50,000,000 going out the door,” he said. Manny replied that the administration expects to have more complete data analysis by the end of the month and that Robert Half has been preparing reports to help the city answer where and why the temporary staffing dollars are spent.
Board members pressed whether the city could terminate or limit use of the cooperative; Manny said the city has discretion not to use the contract and could terminate it. The administration also said it could limit annual spend and return to the board for additional authority if needed. The deputy city administrator added that some temporary assignments are legitimately short‑term needs rather than attempts to bypass human resources rules.
Officials described an operational urgency: the procurement office said roughly 270 open purchase orders for Robert Half staffing services exist across city agencies and that without a contract vehicle those temporary placements would wind down. That operational risk was one factor the administration cited for bringing the award forward rather than delaying it.
After discussion, the board approved the item. The comptroller and the council president abstained from the vote. Several members urged the administration to bring clearer, agency‑by‑agency usage reporting and vendor‑performance metrics to the board for follow‑up.
The board did not set new contractual conditions on termination or annual reauthorization in the motion; Manny said the administration will follow board direction on whether to pursue a city‑run procurement instead of piggybacking on a cooperative in the future.
