Laid-off OPM employees given 2 days to apply for identical jobs in a different office
OPM also offered employees who were laid off in a RIF the option to retroactively join the deferred resignation program or take an early retirement.
After laying off employees as part of its reduction in force (RIF), the Office of Personnel Management is now circulating a handful of job announcements to impacted employees that are nearly identical to their previous roles — only in a different OPM component.
In an internal email obtained by Federal News Network, OPM notified the impacted staff members on Monday of five vacancies in OPM’s Human Resources Solutions (HRS) office, which manages the software for USA Jobs, USA Staffing and other federal HR products and services.
“We are writing to make notify [sic] you of some OPM [Career Transition Assistance Plan] vacancy announcements that were posted today,” the email from OPM’s Chief Human Capital Office reads.
The five vacancies are:
- Data Scientist
- Program Analyst (Data Analytics)
- Supervisory Program Analyst
- Program Analyst
- Business Analyst
OPM’s vacancy announcement on Monday gave the impacted employees two days to apply for the positions, with the offer expiring Wednesday night. OPM is asking for employees to share their RIF notices, resumes and most recent performance appraisals as part of their application.
It’s unclear if any of the employees who were laid off in the RIF have applied for the openings. OPM declined a request for comment.
Between two rounds of RIFs — the first in late February and the second occurring late last week — all employees in OPM’s office for Human Capital Data Management and Modernization (HCDMM) either saw their positions terminated or took voluntary resignation offers. Bloomberg first reported the news of OPM’s HR data office being gutted.
HCDMM is the component of OPM that manages the agency’s large data assets, including FedScope and the Enterprise Human Resources Integration (EHRI) system. The office is also responsible for establishing human capital data standards and managing the government’s data collection processes.
“Those are very sensitive positions because they’re tracking all the data that informs FedScope and other types of workforce data and analytics — it’s very sensitive information,” Raymond Limon, a former OPM executive and Merit Systems Protection Board member, said in an interview. “I would imagine that function is going to continue, but now they may want to have the new DOGE IT people go in. My fear, of course, is that they’re manipulating that data, which would be big, big concern.”
The laid-off analysts and data scientists from OPM are now being offered the option to apply for positions with the same titles as their previous jobs, but in the HRS office. OPM is using its Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) program, which is meant for employees to use before they separate from federal service — according to OPM’s website.
“Agencies must give selection priority to their own well-qualified surplus employees who apply for vacancies in agency components in the local commuting area. Agencies must notify their surplus or displaced employees when they plan to fill these jobs,” OPM wrote in 2017 guidance. “With a few exceptions, the agency must select those who apply and are eligible and well-qualified before any other candidate from within or outside the agency.”
At the same time, OPM is now offering its employees who were impacted by a February RIF the option of retroactively applying for the deferred resignation program (DRP) or the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA), according to a separate OPM email obtained by Federal News Network.
“Those employees who opt-in to the DRP will be removed from the RIF and be placed on administrative leave for the duration of the DRP,” OPM wrote in the email.
OPM added that employees who take the DRP will also be ineligible to get severance pay once they separate from the agency. Those who are eligible for retirement can also choose to sign onto the DRP offer to retire later this year, OPM said.
The impacted employees have until April 28 to decide if they want to submit a signed contract for taking OPM’s DRP offer.
If you would like to contact this reporter about recent changes in the federal government, please email drew.friedman@federalnewsnetwork.com or reach out on Signal at drewfriedman.11
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