USDA IT Shop Freezes Hiring and Offers Early Retirement

By August 12, 2020Benefits, Retirement
Early Retirement - VER Eligibility for postal service employees - what is vera

The CIO Office at the Department of Agriculture has instituted a hiring freeze and plans to offer early retirement options to IT workers in an effort to optimize the agency’s tech investments and update the skillset of its workforce, according to a report on Federal News Network.

Voluntary Early Retirement Authority options will be offered to eligible IT specialists – excluding cybersecurity professionals — with 20 years of service at age 50, or those with 25 years of service at any age. Those staffers may voluntarily retire and earn an immediate annuity. Eligible employees can apply for VERA through mid-August, the department said.

USDA said it plans to accept as many VERA requests as it can, but early retirement offers will be extended on a first-come, first-serve basis, and those who have been accepted are expected to retire by Sept. 30.

The hiring freeze was instituted June 30 and will extend through fiscal 2021. It only applies to IT professionals who “report directly or indirectly to the mission area chief information officers or program executives,” the USDA spokesperson told Federal News Network.

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