USDA offers buyouts to CIO employees

Agriculture officials are offering buyouts to employees in the department’s CIO’s office, a spokeswoman confirmed Oct. 11.

According to a written statement the spokeswoman provided, the CIO’s office offered a voluntary separation incentive program opportunity. There are 230 eligible CIO employees, based on their age and years of federal service. They have been able to apply since Oct. 5 and they have until Oct. 15 to decide.

Officials are being crunched by tightening budgets and demands for efficiency.

"Like many other areas in the federal family, USDA’s OCIO has both a fair number of employees who are at or near full retirement eligibility, and an ongoing need to ensure that we provide services to the rest of USDA as efficiently as possible," the department said in a statement. "OCIO’s fiscal stewardship planning includes being deliberate about using methods that are least disruptive to the lives and careers of valued federal employees and their families."

The department is unsure at this point how many employees will participate in the program, according to officials.

Other agencies have taken similar action.The General Services Administration reportedly offered some 1,000 employees buyouts and early retirements, saying it expects about 200 to accept the deal, the Federal Times reported in July. It was the second round of buyouts for GSA.