Latest news with #OfficeOfPersonnelManagement
New York Times
3 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Government's H.R. Arm Shedding a Third of Staff
The Office of Personnel Management, the government's human resources arm, has shed 10 percent of its staff and plans to shrink even more by the end of the year, the agency said on Monday. On Jan. 20, when President Trump returned to the White House, the agency had a staff of 3,110. Hundreds are leaving through incentive programs, and some are leaving without incentives. More than 125 have been laid off. The newly confirmed director, Scott Kupor, told reporters on Monday that he expected staffing to drop to 2,000, by the end of the year. Mr. Kupor said the agency was cutting its contractors by half as well, going from about 1,200 at the beginning of the year to 600 by the end of December. The personnel office has been issuing guidance to agencies for months about how to cut staff and consolidate or eliminate programs. Agencies offered incentives for people to resign voluntarily, which has shifted the calculation of how many employees the government would have to lay off to achieve President Trump's goal of shrinking the size of the federal work force. Some 788 employees at the personnel office took advantage of the incentives to retire early or resign and get paid through Sept. 30, while 152 others resigned without participating in any of the incentive programs. The agency laid off an additional 129 employees. The personnel office did not say what other agencies have planned, but the threat of layoffs has been looming since the earliest days of the administration. The Department of Health and Human Services laid off 10,000 employees this spring. And on July 11, the State Department laid off more than 1,000 employees after the Supreme Court lifted a lower court's block on mass government firings. Most agencies have not announced layoff plans, and the projected number of reductions has changed with thousands of employees leaving the government voluntarily. The Department of Veterans Affairs recently said it would not have to make layoffs because so many people decided to leave.
E&E News
16-07-2025
- Business
- E&E News
OPM swears in new director
Scott Kupor officially assumed his role as director of the Office of Personnel Management on Tuesday, as the Trump administration prepares to move forward with firing thousands of federal employees. Kupor said he would prioritize President Donald Trump's 'America-first agenda' by focusing on stewarding taxpayer resources and ensuring federal agencies are equipped with 'efficiency and integrity.' 'I am honored by the Senate's confirmation and grateful to President Trump for entrusting me with this opportunity to serve,' Kupor said in a news release. 'My commitment is to empower these dedicated public servants with the tools, systems, and leadership they deserve, building a high-performing, accountable, and mission-driven workforce that upholds the trust of every taxpayer.' Advertisement Kupor's takeover comes just a week after the Supreme Court paved the way for the Trump administration to resume laying off thousands of federal workers.
E&E News
09-07-2025
- Politics
- E&E News
Interior implements Trump's essay requirement in federal hiring
The Interior Department will ask job applicants to answer several essay questions inked by the Trump administration that have been criticized as a litmus test for loyalty to the president's agenda, according to a memo sent out last week from the department's human capital office. The essay questions, which include asking applicants to state which of the president's executive orders are most significant to them, originated in a plan to revamp federal hiring by the president's Office of Personnel Management. Dubbed the 'Merit Hiring Plan,' the changes included several long-standing and bipartisan proposals to improve federal job reviews, such as implementing skills-based hiring and shortening the notoriously lengthy federal resume, alongside new initiatives from the Trump administration. Advertisement In addition to the four essay questions quizzing applicants on Trump's priorities and their loyalty to the Constitution, the OPM changes mandate that agencies stop collecting information about the race, sex and religion of the workforce.
E&E News
21-06-2025
- Business
- E&E News
Personnel agency blames Biden team for telework ‘abuse'
The Trump team is blasting the Biden administration's oversight of telework after a recent watchdog report pointed to lapses at the agency that manages the federal workforce. The inspector general of the Office of Personnel Management issued a report earlier this week finding that the personnel agency needed to improve oversight of its telework and remote work policies. The watchdog office flagged problems including telework and remote work agreements that had lapsed or were not on file and employee time sheets that weren't compliant with the agency's requirements. Advertisement The Trump administration pointed to the report as it accused its predecessors of allowing telework 'abuse.' The Trump administration has made it a top priority to prod federal employees back to full-time in-person work.
E&E News
18-06-2025
- Politics
- E&E News
Trump standards target federal ‘poor performers'
The Trump administration on Tuesday released new standards for agencies to address 'poor performers' in the ranks of the federal government. The memo issued by the Office of Personnel Management says it aims to boost accountability and improve performance of federal employees. The standards are part of a broader push by the administration to keep close tabs on federal employees' performance and make it easier to fire government workers. The standards released this week apply to all workers who don't qualify as Senior Executive Service or Senior Professional employees. The administration issued new performance plans for those groups of senior employees earlier this year. Advertisement Among other requirements, agencies are directed to 'review and update their performance and disciplinary policies to ensure that poor performers can be swiftly removed, reduced in grade, or reassigned.'
