Air Force to cut 900 civilian jobs, leave 7,000 others unfilled
Facing the pressures of a tightened 2014 budget, the service said it will use early retirement and voluntary separations reduce the workforce.
The Air Force is feeling the pinch of the 2014 budget, saying it will cut 900 civilian jobs — at least partly by paying people to leave — and leave 7,000 openings unfilled.
At which locations the cuts will occur hasn’t been determined, as the service is working on shaping its workforce to meet both budget demands and skill requirements, the Air Force said in a release. Plans for managing the workforce do not include furloughs.
"The Defense Department used administrative furloughs to meet civilian pay budget demands in the compressed time frame between sequestration and the end of the FY13. We will meet a similar budgetary challenge in FY14 through a reduced workforce," said Brig. Gen. Gina Grosso, the director of force management policy for the Air Force.
The service said it will offer people incentives to leave through its Voluntary Early Retirement Authority and Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay programs. The first program allows people to retire from the service and seek employment outside of government, the second offers up to $25,000 to employees to leave voluntarily.
"Over the last couple of years the Air Force has gone through significant civilian pay budget challenges," Grosso said. "By implementing voluntary programs now we hope to mitigate future involuntary losses to the civilian workforce.”