The Trump administration exceeded its target for the number of federal worker departures this year, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Scott Kupor said, announcing nearly 317,000 employees left their agency jobs.
After President Donald Trump directed large-scale reductions in force (RIFs) at the start of his administration, focusing on laying off full-time employees who held roles “that are not required,” Kupor said in a blog post on Nov. 21 that Trump’s goal of four layoffs for every new hire has been exceeded.
Specifically, the current total for this year so far is 68,000 new hires and roughly 317,000 departures.
A recent executive order by Trump directed agency leadership to come up with annual “headcount plans” in coordination with OPM and the Office of Management and Budget, which aims to “ensure that new career appointment in the upcoming fiscal year are in the highest-need areas and aligned with the priorities” of the Trump administration.
Kupor gave more details on what those headcount plans will look like going forward, noting several considerations that will be taken into account when making future federal hiring decisions.
The OPM director said that staffing plans will take a “bottom-up” approach by considering how job functions match the administration’s priorities, how many employees are needed to achieve that function, and how staffing levels compare to current headcounts.
Federal employees will also need to undergo formal assessments of their qualifications, Kupor said, explaining that employees will no longer be hired on a “self-attestation of their skills.” Details on how those assessments will be carried out are murky, but Kupor said they will be made using “various tools.”
Despite having a large number of federal contractors, Kupor added that OPM has given agencies “the flexibility” to replace full-time federal employees with contractors when it is more affordable for agencies.
“Ultimately, we should all be focused on reducing the total dollar expense of service delivery, rather than the actual count of employees,” Kupor added, noting that “the goal is not to focus on the raw number of [full-time employees] but rather to focus on great service delivery with maximum efficiency.”
While the Trump administration’s plan to reduce the federal workforce has come under fire by lawmakers and unions representing federal employees, its restructuring plans have, at least temporarily, been greenlighted by the Supreme Court.
It is unclear whether the number of employee departures provided by Kupor includes RIFs conducted during the recent government shutdown, which were court-ordered to be rescinded and backed by Democrats and Republicans’ short-term funding agreement to be reinstated.
Details were also not provided on how many of those departures came from RIFs or from federal employees who agreed to the deferred resignation program offered by agencies.