OPM retirement balances further decreased to a seven-year low at the end of 2023. The total backlog of outstanding severance claims currently stands at 14,292. The last time it fell below that level was at the end of June 2016.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) received 5,662 new severance claims in December and processed 7,196, a difference of 27%. As a result, the backlog decreased by 9.7% compared to November, from 15,826 orders to 14,292 orders.
OPM took an average of 68 days to process severance claims in December. In 2023, his monthly average was 73 days.
Fewer federal employees will retire in 2023 than the previous year
OPM received 88,773 retirement applications from federal employees retiring in 2023. The monthly average was 7,398 cases. As is often the case, the highest number of applications was in January (12,404).
Based on OPM’s retirement statistics, far fewer federal employees will retire in 2023 than in the previous five years. Here is the summary:
Year | total |
---|---|
2023 | 88,773 |
2022 | 102,819 |
2021 | 104,699 |
2020 | 92,088 |
2019 | 101,580 |
2018 | 107,612 |
average | 99,595 |
OPM processed 96,077 severance claims, helping reduce total inventory during the year. In 2023, an average of 8,006 severance claims were processed each month. Total OPM retirement balances decreased by 34% from the end of December 2022 (21,596) to the end of December 2023 (14,292).
OPM retirement balances have declined for the second consecutive year, from 26,730 at the end of 2021 to 14,292 at the end of 2023, a decrease of 46.5%.
Year | complaints received | Claims Processed | difference | Year-end backlog |
---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | 88,773 | 96,077 | (7,304) | 14,292 |
2022 | 102,819 | 107,953 | (5,134) | 21,596 |
2021 | 104,699 | 97,656 | 7,043 | 26,730 |
2020 | 92,088 | 89,309 | 2,779 | 19,687 |
2019 | 101,580 | 102,691 | (1,111) | 16,908 |
2018 | 107,612 | 104,108 | 3,504 | 18,019 |
“Surge period” of retirement
Most federal employees retire at the end of the calendar year. OPM always receives more retirement applications in January than any other month, but December to March is what OPM calls the “surge period” for retirement applications.
As a result, OPM’s obsolete balance may increase between now and the end of January and will be reflected in the next monthly report. For example, last January it increased by 15%, but in the past few years it has increased by more than 40%.
OPM announced in November The agency said it is increasing its staff capacity to handle an expected increase in retirement requests from federal employees. The agency has also established an internal quality control process to reduce the number of errors in retirement applications submitted, and has deployed human resources staff to OPM’s Retirement Operations Center in Boyers, Pennsylvania, to help reduce the number of errors in retirement applications during the surge. It also asked for assistance from other agencies, including to assist with processing.
OPM’s efforts to reduce backlog of retirement benefits
In addition to temporarily increasing processing staff, OPM introduced a new A guide has also been launched.
of OPM Exit Quick Guide Explain to federal employees what to expect when their retirement applications are processed and benefits determined. One of its goals is to reduce the number of errors in retirement applications. This is the single biggest factor that causes processing delays, resulting in federal employees not receiving their full monthly pension benefits right away.
OPM is also developing an online retirement application system with the goal of moving from a paper-based process to a faster process. A recent Inspector General report states that testing is being conducted in a small number of government agencies.
The report states that government agencies’ reliance on paper-based systems is one of the main causes of manual and time-consuming processes. However, an IG report published in November 2023 states that “online retirement applications are still in the early stages of development” and “will take many years to complete.”
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