The report also said OPM is now tracking retention rates, as measured by the percentage of all permanent, non-student full-time employees hired two years prior who are still with their agency.
It said that by that definition, overall retention in the most commonly filled occupations was just below 80 percent, with the highest rates, between 80 and 90 percent, in the following fields: management and program analysis, financial administration, IT management, security administration and accounting. Rates between 70 and 80 percent were reported in secretarial, budget analysis, miscellaneous clerk and assistant, contracting and HR management, while rates at or below 70 percent were reported for HR assistants and contract representatives.
The report said that those figures will become a baseline for the future. It did not break out retention by agency.
"While some turnover is inevitable and can create a healthy dynamic in an organization, a low or sudden drop in the retention rate, especially for new hires, may also be a product of an agency not having effective workforce plans, staffing processes, on-boarding programs, or workplace policies," the report said.