GAO has called on OPM to develop a systematic approach to share information broadly across the federal government about agency-developed promising practices in recruitment and retention of older, experienced workers to meet their workforce needs.
The proportion of federal employees eligible to retire is growing. For example, in the Agency for International Development, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Small Business Administration, and the Department of Transportation, 46 percent of the workforce will be eligible to retire by 2012, well above the government-wide average of 33 percent, according to GAO-09-206.
However, while those rates suggest that many will retire, the federal government has historically enjoyed relatively high retention rates, with 40 percent or more of federal employees remaining in the workforce for at least five years after becoming eligible, said GAO.
It said that beyond retaining older workers, in fiscal year 2007, federal agencies hired almost 14,000 new workers who were 55 years of age or older and brought back about 5,400 federal retirees to address workforce needs.
