DoD Issues Guidance on Buyout, Early Outs for Restructuring

The Defense Department has issued guidance on what it terms “special workforce restructuring buyouts and early retirements” during the fiscal year that starts October 1. Under an authorization bill passed last year, DoD may offer up to 6,000 employees early retirements and/or buyouts to separate for workforce restructuring reasons. Both early outs and buyouts typically are used only during reductions in force, but DoD gained the special authority after complaining to Congress that years of downsizing coupled with hiring restrictions have left it with the wrong mix of skills. The 6,000 workforce shaping slots were allocated as follows: Army, 1,927, Navy, 1,642, Air Force, 1,404, and other, 1027. The guidance further notes that early retirements for restructuring purposes may be used alone-that is, not in conjunction with a buyout-for the first time.