This is a Questions and Answers document for a statewide recruitment services contract (S-DASOBO-00005740) issued by the Oregon Department of Administrative Services Procurement and Services (DAS PS) for use by all State of Oregon agencies, commissions, cities, counties, transit districts, and educational institutions. The contract seeks professional recruitment services for permanent executive and mid-level positions, not temporary or temp-to-hire staffing. The RFP anticipates the award of one or more Master Services Agreements with a tentative start date in May 2023. There is no predetermined budget for this contract; instead, individual Authorized Purchasers will issue separate Service Order Contracts (SOCs) with their own specific budgets when recruitment needs arise. Job titles and work locations will vary by SOC and will be provided at the time of engagement. The recruitment services must cover all position types listed in Section 2.4.4.2 of the RFP, and proposers must agree to provide all services listed in Section 2.4 of the Scope of Work by submitting a proposal.
Pricing must be submitted on the provided Attachment E Price Proposal Form, with rates applicable to professional recruitment services only. This is a new contract with no incumbent vendors or previous spending history. Subcontracting is not mandatory; however, the State of Oregon encourages the use of COBID (Certification Office for Business Inclusion and Diversity) certified firms as subcontractors. Firms not certified as disadvantaged businesses will be considered for award, but there is no specific weight assigned to certifications. The awarded contractor will work exclusively on assigned positions and must direct candidates to the state's Workday platform without direct access to it. Only the rates and contract term are negotiable per Section 5.4.1 of the Master Service Agreement; no redlines to other MSA provisions will be accepted. The State will provide salary information for positions, and recruiting firms may pass through job posting fees to Authorized Purchasers without markup. Payment terms are outlined in Exhibit A, Section 5 of the sample Master Agreement.
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Questions & Answers
S-DASOBO-00005740
Statewide Recruitment Services
1. Is the State of Oregon looking for temporary staff or temp to hire staff? Or is the State of Oregon looking for permanent placement?
This Request for Proposal (RFP) is looking for recruitment services on a statewide level. All State of Oregon agencies, commissions, cities, counties, transit districts and educational institutions may use the awarded Master Services Agreement(s). The positions in question are for permanent positions, not temporary positions. They are also not temp to hire positions. The recruitments services will be for executive and mid-level classifications. We are looking for recruiting firms not temporary employment services.
2. Are there any restrictions on providing any work outside the US?
Employees of the State of Oregon are not able to work outside of the US.
3. Please provide the sample job titles required to fulfill the scope of work?
This is a statewide Master Services Agreement, used by all State of Oregon agencies, commissions, cities, counties, transit districts and educational institutions. A list of sample job titles is not available. The job title is not known until there is a need for a recruitment. When an Authorized Purchaser engages the Contractor for specific recruitment(s) the job titles will be provided at that time. The position types are listed in Section 2.4.4.2 Candidate Sourcing of the RFP.
4. How many vendors will be awarded?
Per Section 1.1 Introduction, it states, “DAS PS anticipates the award of one or more Master Services Agreements.” Its possible there could be more than one but not a guarantee.
5. Can you please provide us with an estimated or NTE budget allocated for this contract?
There is not a budget for this contract. This is a price agreement that may be used by the entire state of Oregon, including State Agencies, commissions, city, county, transit districts or education institutions (Authorized Purchasers) throughout the entire State of Oregon. Each of those Authorized Purchasers will issue a Service Order Contract (SOC) to the awarded contractor when they need recruitment assistance. That specific SOC will have the budget. Each budget will be different.
6. What is the tentative start date for this engagement?
Sometime in May 2023.
7. What is the work location of the proposed candidates?
This will vary from Service Order Contract (SOC) to SOC. That information will be in the SOC.
8. Is this a new contract or are there any incumbents? If there is an incumbent, could you please let us know the incumbent name and pricing?
This is a new contract. There isn’t an incumbent.
9. If there is an incumbent for this contract, is the incumbent eligible to submit the proposal again?
There isn’t an incumbent.
10. Are there any pain points or issues with the current vendor(s)?
There aren’t any current vendors.
11. Could you please share the previous spending on this contract, if any?
There aren’t any current or previous contracts. There isn’t any spending information to share.
12. Is there any mandatory subcontracting requirement for this contract? If yes, Is there any specific goal for the subcontracting?
Using subcontractors isn’t mandatory. However, the State of Oregon does encourage the use of our Certification Office for Business Inclusion and Diversity (COBID) firms as subcontractors whenever possible.
13. Could you please let us know how many positions were filled in the last contract? and How many positions do we expect in the current contract?
There are not any previous contracts. The number of positions is unknown, as this is a statewide price agreement (statewide contract) that will be used by state agencies, boards, commissions, cities, counties, transit districts, education, etc.
14. If the proposed candidates are not available at the time of award, will the agency allow us to provide replacement personnel with similar or more skill sets?
Candidates do not need to be available once the Master Service Agreement is awarded. When a recruitment need arises, an Authorized Purchaser will engage the Contractor by executing a Service Order Contract (SOC). At that time a candidate, must be available if they are applying for the position.
15. Are hourly rate ranges acceptable? We are looking for the hourly rates of the candidates that need to be submitted in the pricing.
The State of Oregon will provide the salary information for each position.
16. Is it entirely onsite work or can it be done remotely to some extent / Does the services need to be delivered onsite or is there a possibility for remote operations and performance?
The specific work location will be provided in the Service Order Contract developed by the Authorized Purchaser. It will also explain if work from home is acceptable or if the position is required to report to the office, or if a hybrid is acceptable.
17. Could you please provide the list of holidays?
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New Year's Day on January 1.
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Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday on the third Monday in January.
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Presidents Day on the third Monday in February.
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Memorial Day on the last Monday in May. (e) Juneteenth on June 19.
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Independence Day on July 4.
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Labor Day on the first Monday in September.
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Veterans Day on November 11.
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Thanksgiving Day on the fourth Thursday in November.
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The Friday after Thanksgiving Day
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Christmas Day on December 25
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Every day appointed by the Governor as a holiday
18. Are there any mandated Paid Time Off, Vacation, etc.?
Time off is not mandated.
19. Please confirm if CareOregon, and Multnomah County are participants in the Oregon Cooperative Procurement Program (“ORCPP”). If a search firm currently has contracts with these agencies, will the new Master Agreement supersede these prior contracts, or will they be allowed to continue through to contact expiration before being governed by the new Master Agreement?
Please visit the ORCPP website: https://www.oregon.gov/das/Procurement/Pages/Orcpp.aspx
20. In the overview, the RFP says that contracted search firms will work with “ Authorized Purchasers’ human resources departments in the advertising of job openings in appropriate media, in a timely, efficient, and cost-effective manner. Will the purchaser pay the fees associated with these on-line postings directly or is the search firm expected to fund job postings out of their fees? Will the search firm coordinate and effectuate the job posting placement or will that be completed by purchaser’s internal HR/ recruiters?
The search firm is able to pass on any fees associated with posting a job to the Authorized Purchaser, without mark up. The search firm and the authorized purchasers HR will coordinate that effort.
21. If awarded this contract, is the search firm required to perform searches in each of the job categories listed, or can search firms offer services to specific categories of jobs only.
Please see Section 1.1 Introduction, the second paragraph. Proposers submitting a proposal, must be able to provide all the Services listed in Section 2.4 Scope of Work/Specifications. By submitting a Proposal, Proposer agrees to provide all Services.
22. The RFP notes: “Proposer shall apply candidates’ preference (Veteran’s and Malheur County preferences) consistent with Oregon Law and then submit the pre-screened list to Authorized Purchaser.” Is the purchaser asking the recruiting firm to use the tools / forms on the Oregon.gov website related to Veterans preference, or will the search firm only need to identify the Veteran candidates and then these forms will be completed by Oregon HR or recruiting team members.
The recruitment firm will need to know how to apply the candidate’s preferent points. The State can provide training in this area if necessary.
23. Will the search firm(s) awarded have direct contact with the hiring manager or only with intermediaries in HR / recruitment?
The awarded search firm may have direct contact with the hiring manager or may be asked to work through the Authorized Purchaser’s HR department. This will be on recruitment-by-recruitment bases. This type of information will be provided in the executed Service Order Contract.
24. When assigned a task order (position) to recruit, will the contracted search firm be exclusively assigned to one job, or will it be competing against other search firms for the same job?
When an Authorized Purchaser enters into a Service Order Contract (SOC) with the awarded contractor, that awarded contractor will be the only firm searching for the position(s) indicated on the SOC.
25. Will Oregon State recruiters be working to fill the same positions as those assigned to the search firm(s)?
The positions will be posted on Workday.
26. If multiple firms are selected for this contract, how will the purchaser keep track of which candidate applications are tied to each recruiting firm?
Each Service Order Contract will be for specific position(s) and will be with only one Contractor. Each Service Order Contract will also have its own Service Order Contract number unique to that position.
27. Will the search firm be expected to add sourced candidates to the Workday platform?
Per Section 2.4.1 Service Delivery, the search firm must direct the candidates to Workday and will not able to forward a candidate’s application materials directly to the Authorized Purchaser or the Authorized Purchaser’s human resources department. The search firm will not have access to Workday.
28. How will recruiting firms be informed of which candidates the hiring manager is interviewing?
The awarded Contractor and the Authorized Purchaser will be in contact during the recruitment, participating in check-ins. The cadence of the check-ins with the Authorized Purchaser will be agreed upon between the Authorized Purchaser and Awarded Contractor in the executed Service Order Contract for the recruitment.
29. Will Oregon State attempt to advertise and fill open positions internally with current employees before assigning them to the search firms, or should the search firm be prepared to screen applicants who are internal employees?
The search firm should be prepared to screen applicants who are internal employees.
30. Can you provide more detail about the expectations you have of proposers related to the “Authorized Purchasers DEI initiatives.
Additional details about each Authorized Purchasers DEI initiatives will be explained in the Service Order Contract. Each Authorized Purchaser’s DEI initiatives will be different.
31. Will search firms be required to organize and administer drug testing and background investigations or will that be handled internal to the agencies by HR?
This will be handled internally.
32. How frequently will the search firm receive feedback from the purchaser about which candidates are in consideration and at which step in the interview process the candidate has completed.
The awarded Contractor and the Authorized Purchaser will be in contact during the recruitment. The cadence of the check-ins with the Authorized Purchaser will be agreed upon between the Authorized Purchaser and Awarded Contractor in the executed Service Order Contract for the recruitment.
33. Will the recruiting firm be informed on a timely basis when open positions are closed by the Purchase? Does the purchaser expect the recruiting firm to communicate the disposition/status to the candidate or will the purchaser’s recruiters inform candidates?
Yes, the recruiting firm will be notified. All of our job posting have a closing date and time that all applications have to be received by. All candidates are notified through Workday what the status is.
34. The RFP notes that “If the attempts to reach our references are unsuccessful, then the Proposer will receive a score of zero for that reference. Will purchasers attempt to notify the search firm if the first or second contact to the reference is not successful, so that we can outreach to the reference or supply a substitute. This will prevent poor scoring if a reference is out for reasons of illness or PTO.
It is the responsibility of the Proposer to ensure their references are available to provide the reference information. DAS PS will not notify the proposer
35. Will any redlines to the MSA be considered?
Per section 5.4.1 Negotiation, the only portions open for negotiation are the rates and the term of the Master Service Agreement and renewals.
36. Will firms not certified disadvantaged (Attachment F) be considered for the proposal award? If yes, they can be considered, is there a specific weight that any of these certifications bear?
Yes they will be considered. No, there is not any specific weight associated with certification.
37. Does the awarded firm need to have a GSA schedule?
No.
38. Our firm plans to provide pricing in multiple niches. Traditional temporary and temp to hire staffing, healthcare staffing, and professional staffing. Will these niches be considered separate? For example, could Express Healthcare be considered for the award, but Express Employment professionals is not chosen?
The State of Oregon is looking for professional recruitment only. The State of Oregon is not looking for traditional temporary services. The pricing for the professional recruitment must be submitted on the provided Attachment E Price Proposal Form.
39. Will more than one firm be chosen as an approved supplier?
Per Section 1.1 Introduction, it states, “DAS PS anticipates the award of one or more Master Services Agreements.” Its possible there could be more than one but not a guarantee.
40. What other information outside of Section 2.4.4.2, Candidate Sourcing, can you provide as to position descriptions, the volume of positions and location?
Position descriptions will be provided at the time a Service Order Contract is established. At this time, we do not know what all the positions are that will be needed to be filled. This is a Master Service Agreement that will be used across the State of Oregon, including state agencies, commissions, cities, counties, transit districts and educational institutions. They will all be different.
41. Will you consider pricing per diem for Healthcare, specifically?
The State of Oregon is looking for recruitment firms, not traditional temporary services. Proposers must provide their pricing on the provided Attachment E Price Proposal Form.
42. In section 10.9 of the MSA, it states that the “Contractor provides benefits to its employees, including without limitation health insurance benefits, vacation benefits, and retirement benefits.” Does this mean contractor pays for those benefits or that the contractor makes those benefits available to its employees?
Section 10.9 states that the Contractor provides employee benefits to its employees, including without limitation health insurance benefits, vacation benefits and retirements benefits.
43. Does the State of Oregon have expected net payment terms, or should we include that in our price proposal?
Please see Exhibit A of the sample Master Agreement, CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS, section 5 Invoicing and payment. This section speaks to the payment terms.
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