Quit or stay? ... 2 Million Choices for US Public Officials with Hundred-Thousand-Dollar Salaries [Curiosity Lab]

More than 2 million U.S. federal employees are at a crossroads. The deadline set by the Donald Trump administration for voluntary retirement is June 6 (local time). On May 28, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sent emails to over 2 million federal employees, asking them to respond by June 6 regarding their retirement decision.

The email's subject line is called "Fork in the Road." This title is the same as the email Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, sent to employees after acquiring X (formerly Twitter). At that time, Musk gave employees one day to decide. Ultimately, 2,492 employees (about 69% of the workforce) chose to quit. More than 1,000 employees refused to resign and were fired the next day. The mass layoff effort, attempted similarly by Musk after joining the Trump administration, differs slightly from the Twitter case. In the email, OPM introduced four major directions for federal government reform: ▲returning to the office ▲performance culture ▲a more streamlined and flexible workforce ▲strengthened behavioral standards, and instructed employees who wished to resign to select "Reply" in the email. Replies from accounts other than .gov or .mil are not allowed. The email also explained to type the word "Resign" in the reply body and click "Send." Only employees who choose to retire will receive eight months' worth of salary.

Protesters opposing the Trump administration's federal reforms are holding signs that read "Federal employees, please stand firm." Photo by AFP/Getty Images, Yonhap News.

◆230,000 Regular Employees to be Reduced by 10%... 20,000 Expected to Leave

The choices are limited: 'Quit, stay, or hold on until being fired.' The White House expects 5-10% of federal employees to resign. Ten percent of 2 million is 200,000. This is expected to save about $100 billion (146 trillion KRW) in salaries. On June 4, two days before the deadline, Axios cited a senior government official saying about 20,000 employees had sent retirement replies, with the number expected to increase by June 6. According to U.S. government statistics, as of November 2024, over 3 million people (including non-regular employees) work in the federal government (executive branch only, excluding legislative and judicial branches). Employment peaked at 3.4 million in 1990 and hit its lowest recently at 2.7 million in 2014. By industry, federal employees rank 15th overall, accounting for 1.7% of the U.S. workforce. This is more than public utilities (570,000), mining (600,000), and agriculture, forestry, and fisheries (1.46 million).

Federal Employee Workforce Distribution by State. U.S. Office of Personnel Management

◆770,000 in the Department of Defense, 440,000 in Veterans Affairs... 160,000 in Washington D.C., Where 43% of Population are Federal Employees

About 2.3 million regular employees are subject to retirement. By department, the Department of Defense (775,100) has the most, followed by Veterans Affairs (433,700), and the Department of Homeland Security (212,000). By region, Washington D.C. has the highest number with about 160,000, followed by California (147,487), Maryland (142,876), Texas (129,738), Virginia (144,483), and Florida (94,014). In Washington D.C., 43.3% of the total population are federal employees. The high number of federal employees in Virginia and Maryland is due to their proximity to Washington D.C. In Virginia, the Navy accounts for the largest share of federal employees (31.4%), followed by the Department of Defense (19.5%) and the Army (10.5%). In Maryland, the Department of Health and Human Services (28.1%), Navy (12.0%), and Army (10.6%) are the top employers. According to a report by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), as of May 2024, about 1.1 million federal employees (46% of the total) are eligible for telework. Among remote workers, 228,000 work remotely, while those eligible but not remote worked about 39% of their hours remotely.

◆Average Annual Salary $90,000 (1.3 Billion KRW)... Washington D.C. Average $130,000 vs Utah and Others $110,000

Federal employees' salaries vary widely by occupation, ranging from $15,278 to $269,735. The average annual salary is $90,000. Medical officers have the highest average salary at $269,735, followed by securities compliance auditors ($210,689), dentists ($202,333), administrative law judges ($192,546), and ship pilots ($183,500). Among the top 15 highest-paid federal jobs, three are in the medical field and three are related to patents. According to the most recent data (March 2023), federal employees in Washington D.C. earn the highest average salary of $137,045. The top three states are Maryland ($128,254), Virginia ($112,665), and New Jersey ($112,149). The states with the lowest average salaries are Utah ($81,018), Wyoming ($80,549), and South Dakota ($80,020).

Federal Employee Salary Distribution by Region. From $80,000 to $137,000. U.S. Office of Personnel Management

◆Federal Employee Unions Oppose vs Retirement Program Legal Controversies

Labor unions and civil society groups oppose the federal government’s restructuring efforts. The National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), one of the federal employee unions, urged, "Do not send replies indicating retirement." Some argue that the voluntary retirement program has many loopholes. Although those who express retirement intentions are promised salaries through September, this promise may not be legally enforceable under current law. The budget for last year, which started in March, did not allocate funds for these salaries. Regarding the eight months' salary, since retirees effectively do not work, they enter administrative leave for eight months. However, federal law allows only 10 days of administrative leave for employees, so eight months is considered illegal. While employees may expect full pay and extended administrative leave under the retirement program, there may be no official or legally binding guarantees.