[Rehiring of Involuntarily Separated Federal Employees]

In a prior report, GAO indicated that it was inquiring into whether Federal employees, involuntarily separated during calendar year 1981, were rehired by the same or another federal agency for a job similar to that which they were performing. According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the federal executive branch filled more than 544,000 positions during calendar year 1981. GAO identified 63,185 full-time permanent competitive service employees who were hired by the executive branch during 1981, while 5,127 full-time permanent competitive service employees were separated through a reduction in force (RIF) during the same period. According to OPM, after 7 months, about 25 percent of the separated employees were rehired by the same or another federal agency. GAO found that, in 1981, agencies hired 595 new employees to fill jobs in the same geographic locations, grades, and series as jobs recently performed by employees who had been subject to a RIF. Data are not available on how many former employees declined offered jobs or were not offered employment. GAO has no way of knowing how many of the separated employees would have accepted jobs if offered. However, GAO found that about 30 percent of the employees who were involuntarily separated in fiscal year 1981 were still unemployed 7 months after their separation.