On March 28, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth signed a memorandum initiating a significant reorganization of the Department of Defense’s civilian workforce. Local military civilian employees received notification on April 1, giving them until April 14 to accept deferred resignation. We could see 370-592 employees cut at NAS Pensacola.
- The “Workforce Acceleration and Recapitalization Initiative” plan includes restarting a Deferred Resignation Program (DRP) specifically for DoD civilian employees. Unlike the previous administration-wide program that recently closed, this initiative will be limited to defense civilians and managed directly by the Pentagon.
According to the memo, the Department of Defense is working toward reducing its civilian personnel by 50,000-60,000 positions overall. The program offers two main options for civilian employees:
- A Deferred Resignation Program (DRP) allows employees to enter paid leave status, starting May 1, for several months before resigning or retiring
- Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) for all eligible civilian employees
DoD civilian employees were notified of these programs and their tight deadlines on April 1 (We found a notification on Reddit). The application window is very brief – running only from April 7 to April 14. Employees approved for either program must leave federal service by September 30. Those participating in the DRP will begin administrative leave no earlier than May 1, 2025.
Local Impact
This reduction could significantly affect our community, as Naval Air Station Pensacola employs over 7,400 civilian personnel across various departments and organizations. With Secretary Hegseth targeting a 5% to 8% reduction in the DoD civilian workforce, NAS Pensacola could see between 370 and 592 civilian employees separated from their positions by the end of September.
- The memo also notes that employees pending approval or already approved for the DRP will not be subject to requirements for returning to in-person work. This appears to be an incentive for employees who may have been resistant to recent return-to-office mandates.
We’ll continue to monitor this developing situation and its potential impact on our local economy and defense community.