Army to hit civilian workforce with nearly 9,000 cuts
Cuts will come from 70 installations, 37 states, and eight commands and agencies.
Ahead of expected deep cuts to the Defense Department budget, the Army announced Dec. 8 it will slash its civilian workforce by 8,700 jobs by Sept. 30, 2012.
The personnel cuts are expected to heavily hit the Washington metro region, as well as Texas – both locations are home to large portions of the Army’s civilian personnel. Overall, 37 states will be affected, according to a DOD release. The cuts will stretch across eight commands and agencies.
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Roughly 70 installations will see job losses, 90 percent of which will be within Installation Management Command, Army Materiel Command, and Training and Doctrine Command.
“Army commands and agencies are continuing to take necessary actions to reduce their civilian on-board strength to meet funded targets established by the secretary of defense and reflected in the President’s Budget,” said Thomas R. Lamont, assistant secretary of the Army for manpower and reserve affairs, in a statement. “To the maximum extent possible, the Army will rely on voluntary departures to achieve these manpower reductions.”
The Army is suggesting commanders responsible for managing their workforce mitigate the losses by using all available options, including voluntary early retirement and voluntary separation incentive payment.
The Air Force announced in November that after various hiring controls failed to produce desired results, the service would be slashing nearly 9,000 jobs as part of a major restructuring effort. The Air Force’s strategies for easing the cuts involve a variety of approaches – including eliminating some unfilled positions and shuffling personnel into others, as well as offering incentives and prioritizing most critical needs.
“These adjustments reflect several initiatives designed to align limited resources based on Air Forces priorities. This process is an ongoing effort to increase efficiencies, reduce overhead and eliminate redundancy,” a statement from the Air Force read.
However, in addition to the Air Force’s announcement that it would cut nearly 9,000 jobs, mostly in management, staff and support areas, service officials also said the force would add roughly 5,900 new positions, including in acquisition and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. The Army’s release made no mention of any similar measures.