Reducing the Size of the Federal Civilian Work Force
Abstract
Both the Congress and the Administration have shown a continuing interest in cutting federal employment as a method of reducing federal costs and controlling federal deficits. In February 1993, for example, the President announced a plan to reduce employment by 100,000 through 1995. The recent report of the National Performance Review (NRP) calls for additional cuts in procurement, personnel, and selected other management and administrative operations. The government has three standard approaches to reducing employment. It imposes a hiring freeze--that is, it does not replace some or all of the workers who leave for retirement or for other reasons. It lays off workers, in what the government refers to as a reduction in force. It offers workers the opportunity to retire early. More recently, the government has granted the Department of Defense (DoD) and a number of other agencies the authority to offer cash payments to employees who leave their jobs--or separate--voluntarily. These agencies together employ around 40 percent of the federal civilian work force. The Congress is considering legislation that would extend authority for such payments to all civilian agencies
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1993
- Accession Number
- ADA276204
Entities
Organizations
- Congressional Budget Office