Federal Downsizing: The Status of Agencies' Workforce Reduction Efforts
Abstract
To downsize the federal workforce, the Federal Workforce Restructuring Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-226) placed annual ceilings on executive branch full-time equivalent (FTE) positions for fiscal years 1994 through 1999. These ceilings would result in downsizing of the federal workforce from 2.08 million FTE positions during fiscal year 1994 to 1.88 million FTE positions during fiscal year 1999. The act also allowed non-Department of Defense (DOD) agencies to pay buyouts to employees of as much as $25,000 between March 1994 and March 1995 to help achieve these workforce reduction goals. DOD has buyout authority through fiscal year 1999 under separate legislation. According to data from the Office of Personnel Management, more than 112,500 buyouts had been paid governmentwide as of September 30, 1995. Through fiscal year 1995, the federal workforce had downsized ahead of the timetable called for by the act, and the administration anticipates being 62,500 FTE positions below the ceiling mandated by the act for the end of fiscal year 1996. DOD has absorbed most of the workforce reductions. Nearly 75 percent of the workforce reductions came from DOD in fiscal year 1994, and 56 percent came from DOD in fiscal year 1995. The Presidents fiscal year 1997 budget anticipates that all of the workforce reductions will come from DOD because non-DOD agencies are expected to experience a net increase in FTE positions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 23, 1996
- Accession Number
- AD1179918
Entities
People
- Timothy P. Bowling
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office