Pentagon to cut up to 60K civilian jobs, but fewer than 21K have voluntarily resigned

Approximately one-third of the employees the Department of Defense (DOD) volition disregard are voluntarily leaving done the deferred resignation program, a elder U.S. defence authoritative said connected Tuesday. 

"More than 20,000, nearing 21,000 of the applications from employees that volunteered to enactment successful deferred resignation program. So those volition really beryllium achieved implicit time," the Defense authoritative said during a media briefing. "We're successful the process of placing those employees that were approved connected administrative leave."

The DOD is aligning its civilian workforce with nationalist information priorities. As portion of this effort, the DOD is undertaking a strategical simplification of 5-8% percent of its civilian workforce to nonstop resources and manpower toward mission-critical functions. 

The fig breaks down to astir 50-60,000. Of them, up to 32,000 veterans could suffer their DOD civilian jobs.

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The Defense Department is preparing to chopped up to 60,000 civilian jobs. (DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images)

"We're surely again looking astatine lawsuit by lawsuit arsenic we program workforce reduction," the elder U.S. defence official, who served much than 10 years successful the Army anterior to moving for the section connected the civilian side, said. 

"So determination are truthful galore captious skills and acquisition that veterans person to offer. And that's portion of the analysis. When we see who is contributing to the halfway ngo functions and who should beryllium retained," helium said. 

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrives astatine the Pentagon, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025 successful Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

The seal of the Department of Defense is seen connected the podium astatine the Pentagon, Sept. 27, 2022 successful Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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Along with the deferred resignation program, the section is removing definite probationary employees and instituting a hiring freeze. Each of the initiatives, directed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, is focused connected workforce ngo criticality to beforehand lethality, readiness and warfighting.    

"So the section is simply a steward of the US taxpayers money. We request to beryllium bully stewards and accountable for that wealth and besides guarantee that we execute the ngo and person the close absorption connected the mission," the authoritative said.