- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memo, paving the way for a voluntary retirement program for eligible civilian employees. The move is in line with planned layoffs at the Department of Defense.
- The memo does not specify a targeted percentage for layoffs, saying only that changes are required to “to put the department on ready footing to deter our enemies and fight for peace.”
- On Tuesday, a senior defense official told reporters that the Pentagon will cut about 50,000 to 60,000 civilian jobs, aiming to reduce the civilian workforce by 5% to 8%.
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has signed a memo offering voluntary early retirement to eligible civilian employees ahead of planned layoffs at the Department of Defense (DOD).
The memo, signed Friday, March 28, aims to reduce the size of the department and states that the DOD will “realign the size of our civilian workforce and strategically restructure it to supercharge our American warfighters consistent with [Hegseth’s] interim National Defense Strategy guidance.”
Hegseth outlined two courses of action for the restructure: a call on the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness to immediately implement DOD’s Deferred Resignation Program (DRP) and offer voluntary early retirement for all eligible DOD civilian employees.
In January, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) offered many full-time federal employees the opportunity to resign with full pay and benefits, as well as early retirement. The new memo reopens the DRP and early retirement program for nearly all DOD civilians under the authority of the Defense Department, rather than OPM.
“Exemptions should be rare,” Hegseth said in the memo. “My intent is to maximize participation so that we can minimize the number of involuntary actions that may be required to achieve the strategic objectives.”
The memo does not specify a targeted percentage for layoffs, saying only that the changes are required “to put the department on ready footing to deter our enemies and fight for peace.”
On Tuesday, March 18, a senior defense official told reporters that the Pentagon will cut about 50,000 to 60,000 civilian jobs, aiming to reduce the civilian workforce by 5% to 8%. The Pentagon currently employs approximately 900,000 civilian workers, and the reduction plan involves eliminating about 6,000 positions each month by not replacing workers who leave.