A "mass exodus" of federal retirements is hitting historic highs and raising alarms for the "chaotic" strain it's putting on the U.S. government.
The Office of Personnel Management says it is currently processing about 35,000 federal retirements, The Washington Post reports Monday. It's an 18% increase from 2024.
This historic wave has come as resignations, buyouts and early retirements climb, and amid the Trump administration's mass layoffs.
Inside the agency, staffing changes have also created more chaos.
“No strategic direction, no strategic plan, statutorily required duties gone by the wayside, no backups for things people did when they left … budget questions that can’t be answered, big holes in institutional knowledge, no ability to backfill priority positions,” an employee told The Post.
OPM Director Scott Kupor told The Post he thinks that the agency will get through the backlog of retirements and that it will bring in other workers from different agencies to assist.
“I’m excited about the work we’re doing, but the reality is, as you know, is there is a big volume that’s coming in a short period of time, and so we’re going to have to do everything we can to make sure that we continue to invest in those efforts that are going to significantly improve the efficiency of the process,” Kupor said.
The government shutdown is also prolonging the processes for these retirements.
"It will be a huge burden," one OPM employee told The Post.