CohnReznick, a professional services firm, through its government contracting (GovCon) practice, released its 9th annual GAUGE Report, published in conjunction with solutions provider Unanet.
The 2025 report analyzes emerging trends, issues, priorities, and opportunities shaping the GovCon industry with a focus on resource management, efficient utilization, navigating regulatory uncertainty, and other industry drivers. Key focus areas include government contract compliance, accounting, utilization, growth, and efficiencies.
DOGE and GovCons
A new topic for this year’s survey was the impact of DOGE on the GovCon industry. Key findings included:
- Roughly 40% of firms report being directly impacted by the Administration’s executive orders (EOs)
- One in three firms say they have been affected by DOGE-related orders
- Almost 40% of firms have developed new policies or procedures for handling stop work orders
Utilization and GovCons
- A topic of focus for this year’s survey was the importance of utilization. Key findings included:
- One in three firms expressed positive feelings about their current resource management tools and cross-team communications
- 60% of respondents cited a desire to update or create policies and procedures related to project management
- 77% of respondents cited they are impacted by budget constraints when it comes to managing resources
Other Key Survey Findings
- 65% of firms are optimistic about the current GovCon environment
- 57% cite new revenue resources as their top financial challenge
- Respondents indicated a heightened scrutiny of government programs is keeping them up at night
- 79% experience issues winning new contracts
- 43% cite deal flow or pipeline performance as one of their biggest business development challenges
- 48% cite resource management as a top project management challenge
“Optimism surrounding the current GovCon environment has declined since last year’s report due to factors such as regulatory and economic uncertainty,” Christine Williamson, a leader in the CohnReznick GovCon advisory practice and co-author of the GAUGE report, said. “However, we are finding is that there are many opportunities to help our clients lean into operations improvements, technology investments, and utilization evaluations to enhance business stability.”
“While the number of firms citing resource management as a top challenge is decreasing, 48% still ranked it as their most significant challenge,” Kristen Soles, leader of the GovCon practice and managing partner – Global Consulting Solutions, said. “This indicates that more firms are looking to modernize their utilization by implementing data and digital management solutions that can reduce risk and improve decision making.”
