The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is on the prowl through Dec. 19 to identify potential cuts to federal agency senior executive rosters in line with a White House executive order issued in October of this year.
According to a Nov. 24 memo from Veronica Hinton, OPM’s associate director of workforce policy and innovation, OPM is seeking agency reviews of executive allocations in coordination with annual staffing plans.
Executing on the White House order, OPM is asking agencies to “review their allocations of Senior Executive Service (SES), Senior Level (SL) and Scientific/Professional (ST) positions, and request any necessary adjustments.”
“This review is especially important in light of headcount reductions and workforce restructuring, which may lead to a corresponding and workforce restructuring, which may lead to a corresponding reduction in the need for SES, SL and ST allocations,” OPM said.
Agencies have until Dec. 19 to tell OPM if they want to lower, or raise, how many staffing spots they’ll allocate for senior-level positions, the agency said.
The memo does not state any specific goals for reductions in executive-level positions.
“These requests should additionally be informed by a comprehensive assessment of current and prospective executive resources needs to ensure optimal implementation of presidential priorities,” OPM told agency chief human capital officers.
“The agency’s assessment should also include a rigorous evaluation of current statutory programs and potential future planned programs to ensure the effective utilization of existing SES, SL and ST allocations in light of mission needs, budget requirements, and program performance,” OPM said.
“These assessments should also inform whether SES, SL and ST positions are appropriately classified and designated,” the agency said.