Education Dept to offer early retirements to employees

Federal Newscast

In today's Federal Newscast, the Education Department has alerted its union that the agency plans to offer early retirements to employees.

Eric White@FEDERALNEWSCAST

October 22, 2024 9:55 am

< a min read

The Education Department is planning to offer early retirements to employees. The agency has alerted its union, the American Federation of Government Employees, that it plans to offer voluntary early retirement authority and voluntary separation incentive payments programs to its employees. In an email obtained by Federal News Network, Education told AFGE the reason it plans to offer early retirements is due to a decrease in funding, an increase in the cost of salary and benefits and the uncertainty of budgets in an election year. AFGE's local union representing Education Department employees declined to comment. Emails to the department were not returned. The Education Department has just over two thousand employees who are at least 50 years old according to FedScope and could be eligible for the buyouts.
(Agency plans to rollout VERA/VSIP offerings - AFGE Local 252)

Federal acquisition is a complicated business, but the Army thinks artificial intelligence might make it simpler for the workforce. A new initiative called “CalibrateAI” will test out the concept of using generative AI to cull through dense acquisition documents and answer questions about them. Officials say the process they’re using will also minimize the consequences of AI “hallucinations,” because the tool will include pointers back to the source material so humans can easily fact check the algorithm’s output.
(Army launches pilot to explore generative AI for acquisition activities - U.S. Army)

House lawmakers want more information about a newly surfaced China-connected cyber threat. Members of the House Homeland Security Committee are asking Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly and FBI Director Chris Wray for a briefing on the Salt Typhoon hacks. Salt Typhoon is the name given to a group of hackers linked to the Chinese government. The group has reportedly targeted major internet service providers like AT&T in recent months. Lawmakers said they are extremely concerned about what Salt Typhoon’s intrusion could imply about the state of America’s cyber resiliency. They want a briefing from CISA and the FBI by Nov. 1.
(Letter on Salt Typhoon - House Homeland Security Committee )

The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council is proposing to remove 70 items from the list of products not available domestically and therefore are not impacted by the Buy American Act. The products include everything from olives to certain types of lumber like Alaskan yellow cedar to cobalt in cathodes. Removal from the list is a sign that there is enough domestic manufacturing capacity or it is related to national security and supply chain concerns. The White House says if those 70 products are removed, this would be the shortest list of non-available domestic articles since the inception of the Federal Acquisition Regulation 40 years ago. Comments on the proposed changes are due within 60 days.
(Biden-⁠Harris administration proposes to further strengthen “Made in America” with shortest exception list in history - White House)

The top official at the National Institute of Standards and Technology is stepping down early next year. NIST confirmed that Director Laurie Locascio will leave her role in January. She plans to join the American National Standards Institute as its new president and chief executive officer. Locascio has served as NIST’s director since April 2022. She helped lead the Commerce agency’s work on critical and emerging technologies, as well as implementation of President Joe Biden’s executive order on artificial intelligence.
(Locascio named president and CEO of the American National Standards Institute - ANSI)

The Postal Service reaches a tentative contract deal with its letter carrier union. More than 200,000 letter carriers would receive 1.3% annual pay raises and semiannual cost-of-living adjustments. That’s under a tentative contract struck by the National Association of Letter Carriers. The tentative deal also keeps a no-layoff provision for letter carriers after six years working as career employees. The union spent nearly two years negotiating the contract. Members will soon vote on whether to approve the tentative agreement.
(USPS letter carrier union get 1.3% annual raises in tentative labor deal - Federal News Network )

A third-party arbitrator said Postal Service police officers have jurisdiction beyond agency facilities, in some cases. The arbitrator said a postal police officer’s duties may include escort protection of letter carriers making high-value deliveries. USPS and its Postal Inspection Service decided in 2020 that postal police officers don’t have law enforcement authority beyond USPS property, but have rescinded that policy.
(United States Postal Service v Postal Police Officers Association - Postal Police Officers Association )

Federal recruitment certainly has its problems, but that’s especially true for agencies hiring in Alaska, Hawaii and U.S. territories. The Government Accountability Office said there are plenty of reasons behind those heightened challenges. Local applicants find the USAJobs website intimidating, and they say the job descriptions are unclear. Many are also deterred by high costs of living and with pay rates they say can’t cover expenses. Employees looking to reach senior-level positions often can’t do so without moving to the contiguous U.S., and then back again. But agencies are trying to do something about it. The Transportation Security Administration, for example, is expanding relocation incentives and looking at ways to connect staff with better housing options.
(Federal Workforce: Actions Needed to Improve Recruitment and Retention in Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. Territories - Government Accountability Office)