Federal Employees Jumping Ship

It may not be a tsunami yet, but many feds are already jumping ship and retiring. More federal workers retired at the end of 2011 than in recent years. The Office of Personnel Management says, a retirement wave that usually begins in January has started a few months early. That's putting pressure on agencies to draft and implement succession plans, and focus on training and development. A poll by the Society for Human Resource management found less than a quarter of organizations nationwide have formal succession plans. Many agencies lack plans for their human resources departments in particular, says a report by the Partnership for Public Service and Booz Allen Hamilton.