The sequester is upon us. Budgets are being slashed, pay is frozen and your agency is not hiring anyone. Yet despite all of that, you have a job to do. The only question is, do you have the resources you need to get the job done? Are your workloads increasing? The results of the government’s latest Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey suggest this is a problem across the government. The percentage of employees who disagree or strongly disagree with the statement “I have sufficient resources to get my job done” climbed from 34.1 percent in 2011 to 35.1 percent in 2012.…
Browsing: what do you think?
Federal Times reported earlier this week that retirements skyrocketed in February, suggesting that the retirement wave may be regaining steam. Are you one of the 20,374 feds who put in your papers last month? We’d like to talk to you, to find out why you decided to call it a day. Was it because of the sequester and furlough threats? The general bad news from the last couple of years? Or were there other factors at play? E-mail me at slosey@federaltimes.com if you’d like to talk.
Federal Times would like to hear from federal employees about the upcoming furloughs that are looking more and more likely. How will losing 20 percent of your take-home pay — as might happen to most Defense Department employees — hit you and your family? What are you hearing from your managers? What is the threat of sequestration and furloughs doing for your office’s morale and productivity? E-mail Stephen Losey or Sean Reilly with your thoughts. If you’d like to stay anonymous, that’s fine.
Gosh, wasn’t the last month of planning for and arguing over the sequestration budget cuts a lot of fun? Guess what — we get to do it all over again! The fiscal cliff deal Congress passed New Year’s Day doesn’t do away with sequestration — it just delays it two months. Federal Times would like to hear your thoughts about the prospect of a delayed sequestration. How does this throw off your plans? What does the uncertainty mean for your projects? Are you angry that this mess has just been kicked down the road once again? Are you worried that…
Federal Times would like to talk to any Office of Personnel Management employees who took part in the agency’s experiment with a Result Only Work Environment, or ROWE, program. If you’d like to talk anonymously, that’s fine. E-mail me at slosey@federaltimes.com.
With federal retirements continuing to spike, it’s clear that the long-predicted retirement wave is here. Retirements in 2011 were up 24 percent over 2010 levels. And so far this year, retirements are up another 8 percent. Federal managers, we’d like to hear about what the retirement wave means for you. Are you seeing one valued employee after another walk out the door? If so, how are you dealing with the loss of their years of experience? Are you getting ready for more retirements in the near future? If so, how are you preparing for that? E-mail me at slosey@federaltimes.com to…
The Obama administration just took its first official crack at estimating the effects of sequestration on more than 1,200 budget accounts across the entire federal government. One thing is immediately apparent — the impact would be widespread and severe. Essentially no corner of the government would be left untouched by the cuts, which would amount to 8.2 percent for non-defense discretionary spending, and 9.4 percent for defense spending. Federal Times would like to hear from you about what kinds of preparations your office is making in case sequestration does happen. Are you and your colleagues starting to plan for sequestration…
President Obama’s decision to extend the pay freeze — at least until Congress passes a 2013 budget — has been condemned by labor leaders. Federal Times would like to find out what you think about the prospect of an even longer pay freeze. How will it affect you? Will it make you more likely to retire? What do you think is driving Obama’s decision? Write me at slosey@federaltimes.com if you’d like to talk. If you’d prefer to remain anonymous, that’s fine.
Congress just passed a new phased retirement option that would allow federal employees to work part-time at the end of their career, while also earning a partial pension. This has the potential to significantly change how feds and their agencies plan for retirements. If you’re a fed nearing retirement age, and are interested in the phased retirement option, we’d like to talk to you. How would a semi-retirement help you and your agency? Is there a dream project you’d like to wrap up before retiring once and for all? Are you busy mentoring younger employees? Are you just not ready…
The latest statistics on the federal workforce provide the strongest proof yet that government employment has peaked and is on its way down. USA Today reported that the federal workforce in April was down 11,600 employees from the same time last year. This change shouldn’t come as much surprise — budgets are contracting, and many agencies have offered buyouts over the last year and a half to help deal with the tight fiscal environment. But Federal Times is wondering what this new reality means on the ground, for front-line workers who have to actually get the government’s work done. Have…