Donald Trump administration offers buyouts to federal workers unwilling to return to office| 5-10% of 2m staff may opt

The White House has rolled out a buyout offer for federal employees unwilling to return to in-person work, in line with President Donald Trump’s new directive to end COVID-19-era remote work policies. The offer could see thousands of federal workers leaving the government workforce.

Currently, only about 6% of the over 2 million federal workers are in the office full-time. 

The White House anticipates that between 5% and 10% of federal employees will accept the offer, potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of individuals, as per a report in Axios.

"This email is being sent to more than TWO MILLION federal employees," Katie Miller, who serves on the Department of Government Efficiency advisory board, shared on X (formerly Twitter).

Buyout details

According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), employees who opt for the buyout will receive administrative leave with pay and benefits. The OPM issued a memo online on Tuesday titled "A Fork in the Road" with further details.

The resignation process is straightforward: "1) Select 'Reply' to this email. You must reply from your government account. A reply from an account other than your .gov or .mil account will not be accepted. 2) Type the word 'Resign' into the body of this reply email. Hit 'Send,'" stated the OPM memo.

President Trump’s directives and workforce reform

During his first week back in office, President Donald Trump issued several directives aimed at restructuring the federal workforce. These orders mandate that employees return to in-person work, reestablish accountability among policy-making employees and senior executives, and overhaul the federal hiring process to prioritize merit.

Deadline for buyout acceptance

Federal employees have until February 6, 2025, to accept the buyout offer. However, certain categories of employees are excluded from this program, including military personnel, US Postal Service employees, immigration enforcement officials, and those working in national security or positions specified by their agency.