60,000 ACCEPT OFFER SO FAR
Some federal workers say they are operating in a climate of fear and uncertainty.
Workers said they were downloading pay and benefits records that they feared could be erased from government computers as they weighed whether to take a buyout deal that might not be honoured or stay on with the knowledge they could be fired.
“In the halls most people are stopping to ask one another what their decision will be, with many people saying they are scared because we are caught between two bad choices and very little time to make the decision,” said one Treasury Department executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The 60,000 or so who have accepted the buyout constitute a little more than 2.5 per cent of the 2.3 million federal workforce. It was unclear from which agencies those employees are leaving.
Roughly 6 per cent of federal workers retire or resign in a typical year, according to the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service.
The administration has told workers they could lose their jobs if they do not accept the buyout. Federal workers say they have been told to brace for dramatic cuts.
“We were told that nothing that is happening is normal and the goal is to reduce the workforce as fast as possible,” said an executive at the Internal Revenue Service.
