Federal Government Policy and Business

Who Is Most Likely to Leave Government During the First Year of a New Administration?

Government Executive: Federal agencies, encumbered by President Trump’s hiring freeze, may soon find expanding vacancies as employees head for the exits. About 6 percent of the federal workforce typically leaves government in the first year of a new administration, according to new academic research, and that number tends to climb in the highest ranks of the civil service. Nearly 10 percent of Senior Executive Service employees leave in the first year after a new president is sworn into office, according to a study published in the Harvard Business Review, up from 8 percent on average. The departure rate also increases at agencies with missions that stand in contrast with the party holding the White House. The researchers analyzed decades of data supplied by the Office of Personnel Management that allowed them to track the careers of millions of individual federal employees. » Get the best federal news and ideas delivered right to your inbox.

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