Management Alert - CBP Needs to Address Serious Performance Issues on the Accenture Hiring Contract

We issued this alert because, during our audit, we identified serious performance issues with U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) contract with Accenture. Accenture has yet to demonstrate the efficient, innovative, and expertly run hiring process described in its initial Performance Work Statement. In addition, before awarding Accenture the contract, CBP did not ensure the proposed systems and processes, such as applicant tracking, complied with all applicable laws and regulations or could be integrated into its hiring process. CBP also did not establish metrics to assess the contractor’s performance and hold the contractor accountable. Further, CBP allowed Accenture to use EyeDetect technology (retinal scanning tool used to discern deception) at an August 2018 hiring expo without proper approval. Unless CBP uses EyeDetect in its hiring process in the same manner Accenture does, it could potentially constitute a prohibited hiring practice. This could, in turn, subject CBP to increased legal risk and oversight by other federal agencies and Congress into CBP’s hiring practices. As of October 1, 2018 CBP had paid Accenture about $13.6 million for startup costs, security requirements, recruiting, and applicant support. In return, Accenture processed two accepted job offers. We recommended CBP assess Accenture’s performance under this contract. CBP concurred with our four recommendations.