The General Services Administration (GSA) is offering early retirement to eligible employees and is also looking to offer lump-sum payments as part of the deal.
Several agencies are making comparable offers to their employees, as the Trump administration pursues widespread cuts to the federal workforce.
This is the latest step GSA is taking to reduce its headcount. The agency has already laid off hundreds of employees since last week, as part of an ongoing Reduction in Force (RIF).
GSA Acting Administrator Stephen Ehikian told employees in an email that the Office of Personnel Management approved its request for Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) to all eligible employees, “including those impacted by the RIF.”
“VERA is a strictly voluntary option that allows eligible employees to retire early and is often used by agencies undergoing reductions and restructuring as a means of achieving their workforce goals with less disruption to individuals and work units,” Ehikian wrote in the email obtained by Federal News Network.
GSA has also asked OPM for approval to offer Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments (VSIPs) to eligible employees. Ehikian wrote that he’s “optimistic about it being approved in the near future.”
The maximum amount agencies can offer in a VSIP is $25,000.
Federal employees under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) are eligible for voluntary early retirement if they’re at least 50 years of age, with at least 20 years of service, or any age with at least 25 years of service.
“I encourage each of you to consider your options as we move forward,” Ehikian told employees. “The new GSA will be slimmer, more efficient and laser-focused on efficiency and high-value outcomes.”
GSA’s Office of Human Resources Management, he added, will send additional information on the VERA, eligibility requirements and VSIP updates.
The agency laid off about 600 employees on March 3rd, and continues to terminate additional personnel.
GSA’s Public Buildings Service, which manages a governmentwide portfolio of leased and owned federal office buildings, has felt the brunt of these workforce reductions. Agency leaders expect to cut 63% of its workforce.
Last week, GSA began terminating employees across its 11 regional offices. The agency on March 5 announced major layoffs in its region 10 office, which generally covers the Pacific Northwest.
FedScoop first reported last week that GSA also plans to cut its Technology Transformation Staff by 50%.
Ehikian wrote in his email that GSA “has initiated significant reductions and restructuring across several business units to gain efficiencies, eliminate redundancy, and improve alignment with Administration and agency priorities.”
“I offer my sincere and heartfelt gratitude for the work of all GSA employees impacted by these decisions. I am working closely with senior leaders across GSA to reshape and refocus organizational units as quickly as possible following these departures. I am confident that these changes will return GSA to our founding principles of ensuring the federal government operates with efficiency, fiscal responsibility, and accountability,” he wrote.
Other agencies are taking a similar approach to cut staffing.
The Social Security Administration told staff last month it’s offering voluntary early retirements and VSIPs worth up to $25,000, with the goal of reducing its workforce by about 7,000 employees. SSA already has its lowest headcount in more than 50 years.
On Monday, the Associated Press reported that the Department of Health and Human Services sent a similar “voluntary separation offer” to more than 80,000 of its employees.
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