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Federal Employment: Displaced Federal Workers Can Be Helped by Expanding Existing Programs

GGD-92-86 Published: May 05, 1992. Publicly Released: May 05, 1992.
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Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on: (1) Department of Defense (DOD) and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) job placement programs; and (2) Department of Labor (DOL) job retraining assistance.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Office of Personnel Management To better respond to displaced workers' needs for timely assistance, the Director, OPM, should expand the Federal Job Opportunities Listing to include all federal job openings for which displaced employees could qualify.
Closed – Implemented
OPM expanded the federal job listing to include merit promotion vacancies for which agencies will accept applications from outside their agencies. This has resulted in about 1,300 additional positions on the listing at any given time.
Office of Personnel Management To better respond to displaced workers' needs for timely assistance, the Director, OPM, should expand the Defense Outplacement Referral System to include workers who are being displaced by civilian agencies.
Closed – Implemented
OPM agrees that expanded referral services should be available to all displaced employees, not just DOD employees. However, as a result of an OPM career transition study, the Interagency Advisory Group of Executive Branch Personnel Directors established a work group to develop a career transition program. On September 12, 1995, the President directed agency heads to provide improved career transition assistance to their displaced employees. OPM is leading an interagency team to develop regulations and more detailed guidance on how the provisions of the directive are to be implemented.
Office of Personnel Management To better respond to displaced workers' needs for timely assistance, the Director, OPM, should develop a computer program for matching job seekers with job vacancies on a periodic basis or when job seekers and job vacancies are added to the respective databases.
Closed – Implemented
OPM believes that agencies should perform the actual matching. However, since it sees its role as providing agencies with lists of displaced employees who meet the agencies' general job requirements, GAO believes that the OPM response is adequate given its limited resources to implement a computer matching program.
Department of Labor The Secretary of Labor should decide as soon as possible whether displaced workers may receive job training as authorized by the Economic Dislocation and Worker Adjustment Assistance Act before they receive a specific notice of job termination.
Closed – Implemented
Labor established conditions under which displaced workers may receive job retraining before they receive a specific separation notice.

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Topics

Civilian employeesEligibility determinationsEmployment opportunitiesEmployee dismissalFederal downsizingFederal employeesInteragency relationsManagement information systemsOccupational retrainingReductions in forceState-administered programs