Will you take President Trump’s buyout?

Tell Us

On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced it would offer buyouts to all federal employees who choose to leave their jobs by Feb. 6.

By Annie Jonas

January 29, 2025 | 2:42 PM

2 minutes to read

On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced it would offer buyouts to all federal employees who choose to leave their jobs by the end of next week, in an effort to downsize the workforce and reform the federal government. 

In a memo sent from the Office of Personnel Management, the downsizing efforts are part of “four pillars” that President Donald Trump is using to reform the federal government. Included in the pillars are: a return to in-person work; updated performance standards that “insist on excellence at every level”; a downsized workforce; and new standards for employee conduct.

“While a few agencies and even branches of the military are likely to see increases in the size of their workforce, the majority of federal agencies are likely to be downsized through restructurings, realignments, and reductions in force,” the OPM memo said. “These actions are likely to include the use of furloughs and the reclassification to at-will status for a substantial number of federal employees.”

The buyout offer applies to most full-time federal employees, except for military personnel, the U.S. Postal Service employees, and those who work in immigration enforcement and national security, according to the memo.

The memo said employees who leave their posts voluntarily will retain all pay and benefits, and will be exempted from in-person work requirement until Sept. 30, but they have to choose to do so by Feb 6.

According to the Associated Press, the impact of federal downsizing and even just a fraction of federal employees taking buyouts “could send shockwaves through the economy and trigger widespread disruptions throughout society as a whole, triggering wide-ranging — and as yet unknowable — implications for the delivery, timeliness and effectiveness of federal services across the nation.”

Some federal employees said they intend to stay in their positions, according to social media posts.

“I took an oath under this position to the American people and leaving my job under the current state would be failing to maintain my oath as a civil servant,” one federal employee wrote in a thread on Reddit.

If you’re a federal employee, we want to know: Will you take the buyout, or stay in your position? Are you concerned about the Trump administration’s new directives on the federal government?

Tell us by filling out the form or e-mailing us at [email protected], and your response may appear in a future Boston.com article.