Category: Federal Employees

Retirement wave gathering force

Retirement wave gathering force

Jan. 30, 2014 – 05:32PM   |
By SEAN REILLY   |
Workers
Nealry 600,000 federal employees will be eligible to retire by 2017. (Chris Maddaloni / Army Times)

The percentage of federal workers eligible to retire will roughly double by 2017, underscoring the need for agencies to prepare for the loss of experienced, high-level staff, Government Accountability Office reviewers conclude in a newly issued report.

As of September 2012, about 14 percent (nearly 270,000) of some 2 million permanent career federal workers could trade a paycheck for a pension, the report says. By September 2017, about 31 percent (almost 600,000) will be able to leave.

Replacing those who retire “could be problematic given the era of flat or declining budgets that the government is experiencing,” according to the report. However, if agencies are able to recruit new employees, the retirements would give them the opportunity to reshape their workforce in accordance with current and future mission needs. Continue reading “Retirement wave gathering force”

AFGE Issues Top 10 List of Actions Obama Should Take to Help Federal Workers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 29, 2014

Contact:Tim Kauffman
202-639-6405/202-374-6491
kaufft@afge.org

AFGE Issues Top 10 List of Actions Obama Should Take to Help Federal Workers

Union issues response to President’s call to action in State of the Union address 

WASHINGTON – The American Federation of Government Employees, the nation’s largest federal employee union, has outlined 10 issues President Obama can address today through executive order to improve the federal government’s workforce.

The Top 10 list comes in response to President Obama’s State of the Union address, in which he pledged to act without legislation “wherever and whenever” possible to expand opportunity for American families.

“These are concrete actions President Obama can take right now to address inequalities that currently exist in the federal workforce, while improving accountability and saving taxpayer dollars,” AFGE National President J. David Cox Sr. said.

The list: Continue reading “AFGE Issues Top 10 List of Actions Obama Should Take to Help Federal Workers”

Key federal-employee policies have changed during Obama administration

Key federal-employee policies have changed during Obama administration

In Tuesday’s State of the Union speech, President Obama announced no new initiatives directly affecting federal employees. That’s not unusual for an annual speech that typically focuses on broad economic, national security and foreign policy themes.

But even without such a jump-start, changes commonly are made each year in important aspects of federal employment, including pay, retirement and other benefits, and workplace policies.

The accompanying table shows key developments during Obama’s time in office. Continue reading “Key federal-employee policies have changed during Obama administration”

OPM to Lay Off 300 Employees

OPM to Lay Off 300 Employees

Eric Von Seggern/Shutterstock.com

The Office of Personnel Management will lay off about 300 employees later this month, the agency announced on Wednesday.

Uncle Sam’s human resources agency said federal government is hiring fewer people and conducting less training. This has diminished the demand for OPM’s services, according to Federal News Radio, which first reported the story. The reductions-in-force were required by “revenue reductions in [OPM’s] reimbursable programs,” the agency wrote in a memo to all federal agencies. Continue reading “OPM to Lay Off 300 Employees”

Feds have high hopes, low expectations for Obama’s State of the Union address

The Federal Diary The Federal Diary Joe Davidson

Feds have high hopes, low expectations for Obama’s State of the Union address

Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post – President Barack Obama addresses a joint session of Congress as he gives his State of the Union address on Feb. 12, 2013.

 By , Published: January 26 E-mail the writer