US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has signed a memorandum aimed at shrinking the Department of Defense’s civilian workforce.
This was disclosed in a memo released on Friday.
According to the memo, the reduction in civilian positions will increase resources to areas “where we need them most,”; and help “supercharge our American warfighters”.
It added that the move reactivated the deferred resignation program and offered voluntary early retirement for all eligible employees.
“Exemptions should be rare,”; Hegseth said in the memo.
“My intent is to maximize participation so that we can minimize the number of involuntary actions that may be required to achieve the strategic objectives.”;
In January, employees were previously offered buyouts and early resignations as part of a program.
The memo, however, did not specify the number of civilian positions to be cut, but the department announced in February it planned to ultimately let go 5 to 8 per cent of the military’s approximately 950,000 civilian employees.
