PPS: Many high-profile reductions-in-force are not captured in the data and performance-based terminations have been reclassified as "other". Image: Arthimedes/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffA revision to the FedScope database recently announced by OPM “raises serious transparency concerns” in that detailed quarterly accounting of federal employees, the Partnership for Public Service has said.
While the OPM announcement stressed an initiative to post more current data—compared to the figures commonly being six, nine or more months behind in recent years—the latest posting of numbers falls short in some ways and “for those closely tracking workforce trends, it offers only a partial picture,” the Partnership said.
For example, it says, employees “placed on administrative leave and slated for removal, including almost the entire workforce of the former United States Agency for International Development, are still counted as active, meaning many high-profile reductions-in-force are not captured in the data.”
“More concerning is OPM’s decision to reclassify disciplinary and performance-based terminations. Typically the third-largest separation category and one of the primary vehicles DOGE has used to fire probationary employees, these actions are now grouped under “other separations” alongside deaths. This change significantly weakens transparency and will make it harder for stakeholders to track how the administration is using this mechanism to reshape the federal workforce,” it said.
Further, “OPM removed the traditional reference tables—separate files that defined the codes used in the main dataset—and replaced them with text values embedded directly in the data. This approach can be more error-prone and slow down processing for users working with the data at scale.”
“As the administration’s workforce reshaping efforts continue, it will be critical to watch not just what the data says, but how it is collected, defined and released,” it says.
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