DOD to Use Performance, Not Tenure, for Layoffs

The Defense Department, the largest federal agency with about 742,000 civilian employees, will use performance to make future reduction-in-force decisions.

This means the DOD will approach RIFs differently than most other federal agencies, which use tenure when making layoff decisions.

“When circumstances necessitate a RIF, the department must ensure we are retaining our highest performing employees,” the department said in a statement issued Jan. 26. The DOD said it will continue to avoid layoffs where possible, including through early retirement and buyout offers, hiring freezes, the termination of temporary employees and “pre-RIF placement options.”

The RIF retention factors for DOD ...