US President Donald Trump smiles at the White House
AFP

In a latest effort to reduce federal workforce, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is offering early retirement, while the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Education Department are allowing employees to voluntarily resign or retire under new retirement programs.

HHS Announces Early Retirement Offer

HHS has received approval from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to offer early retirement under the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA). On Monday, the department informed its employees that they could apply for early retirement within the next 10 days, according to an exclusive report by Reuters.

Eligible employees—those at least 50 years old with 20 years of federal service, or any age with 25 years of service—can apply by the Mar.14 deadline at 5 pm EST. Employees were also directed to a government website for further details.

Additionally, HHS asked employees to respond to a request for information about their recent accomplishments, sent by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

While initial communications indicated employees at HHS, which includes the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), could ignore this request without consequences, the department changed its stance on Monday.

Employees were told to submit their responses by midnight, but they were cautioned to avoid sharing sensitive information, including the names of drugs or devices they are working on. The department warned that responses might be accessed by foreign actors, and employees were advised to follow supervisor guidance on how to reply.

"I feel I will spend the whole day writing these five bullets in a way that does not contain sensitive information while also providing information that my job is important. I don't know if this can be called efficiency," an FDA source said.

SEC Offers $50,000 for Voluntary Separation

Meanwhile, the SEC is offering its employees up to $50,000 if they choose to resign or retire early. SEC's voluntary incentive separation and voluntary early retirement programs allow permanent employees to resign, transfer to another agency or retire immediately, a Friday memo said, Reuters reported.

SEC employees have until March 21 to make their decision, according to a memo sent on Feb. 28 by the SEC's chief operating officer, Ken Johnson.

In addition to the retirement offers, the SEC announced that it would be terminating leases for its Los Angeles and Philadelphia offices, as reported in a separate memo.

"To be clear, these lease terminations are not associated with any reorganization or reduction in force plan regarding SEC personnel," Johnson stated.

Last week, the agency announced plans to cut positions in regional offices, affecting some of its employees.

Education Department Offers Buyouts

The Education Department has also rolled out buyout options, offering employees up to $25,000 to resign or retire early as part of a significant workforce reduction. Employees were given a deadline of 11:59 p.m. on Monday to accept the offer, which would take effect on Mar. 31, reported Forbes.

These moves are part of a broader effort by the Trump administration and DOGE to reduce the size of the federal workforce. Over 100,000 federal employees have already been removed through a combination of layoffs and buyouts.