(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The White House delivered a blunt message to government bureaucrats adamantly opposed to returning to the office: accept this final offer or get lost.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is offering to pay the salaries of federal employees through Sept. 30, but they must resign by Feb. 6, according to a memo published on a government website.
These buyout offers—reported first by Axios and Fox News—come one week after President Donald Trump ended his predecessor’s generous remote work policies. Under the president’s orders, workers must be in the office at least five days a week.
This change impacted more than 46 percent of the 2.28 million federal employees who are “telework-eligible,” including 228,000 who currently work full time from their homes.
The White House expects up to 10 percent of federal workers to accept the offers, potentially saving taxpayers up to $100 billion annually.
The OPM memo reviewed by Headline USA stated that the program would expire in less than two weeks.
“If you resign under this program, you will retain all pay and benefits regardless of your daily workload and will be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30, 2025 (or earlier if you choose to accelerate your resignation for any reason),” the memo declared.
OPM also noted, “Whichever path you choose, we thank you for your service to The United States of America.”
It's here pic.twitter.com/mJsPzAtyVk
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A senior administration official told Axios that the current remote work policies are “unacceptable,” noting that the COVID-19 pandemic ended years ago.
“The government-wide email being sent today is to make sure that all federal workers are on board with the new administration’s plan to have federal employees in office and adhering to higher standards,” the official said. “We’re five years past COVID and just 6 percent of federal employees work full-time in office.”
