Source: Zane McMillin, mlive.com, August 13, 2012

Contractors often are employed by government agencies looking to pare down costs during rough economic times. John Eck would tell a different tale…Eck said his work with MDOT has given him an first-hand look at how contracts are awarded, and that he and his colleagues have seen enough to warrant broad changes in the process….

…Here’s an interesting fact: State contracts make up 26 percent of state spending, compared with just 10 percent spent on state workers. In some cases, contract workers are paid to do the exact same work as state employees, but at a higher cost – a contract employee can cost up to twice as much as a state employee performing the same work. In some cases, a contract worker billing at $100 an hour will perform the same work as an MDOT college intern earning $14 an hour. …