U.S. Office of Personnel Management www.opm.gov - Recruiting, Retaining and Honoring a World-Class Workforce to Serve the American People

New Ideas to Recruit Talent and Reform Retirement Regulations

You have clicked on to the right website to explore the most current job opportunities with the Federal government and to learn about what may be in store for the changing Federal workforce. Whether you are a current employee seeking a new challenge, or searching to identify just the right job to begin a career in public service, let me fill you in on some new ideas we are proposing to recruit talent and to reform retirement regulations to hold on to skilled workers.

Working with the White House, we have sent legislative proposals to Congress spanning a number of policy areas. The primary focus is on providing Federal agencies with the tools they need to keep pace and compete with the private sector for skilled, knowledge workers. We are also recommending offering Federal employees enhanced benefits.

A number of revisions to both the current Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) could help agencies remain competitive. For example-- allowing CSRS employees to work part-time at the end of their career without incurring a penalty against their final retirement calculation would help agencies retain skilled workers with corporate history. Authorizing employees to invest bonuses in the Federal retirement savings plan, the Thrift Savings Plan, would spark interest in Government service among those looking to participate in a viable pension plan.

Many Federal personnel managers have told us of their concerns about filling skills gaps as the demand for technology solutions continues to spread into every aspect of Government and as older workers retire. Modifying the rules to bring talented retirees back to the Government on a part-time basis without penalizing their annuity would allow Federal agencies to rehire recently retired employees to assist with short-term projects, fill critical skill gaps and train the next generation of Federal employees.

These are only a few of the ideas we are exploring to maintain the Federal government's competitive position in the workplace. I invite you to revisit this page from time to time to learn more about how OPM is constantly working to fulfill our mission of ensuring the Federal government has an effective civilian workforce.

Linda M. Springer