General Services Administration (GSA) Offers Early Retirement with a Potential Incentive to Eligible Federal Employees

The General Services Administration (GSA) is offering early retirement to eligible employees and is seeking approval for a $25,000 payment—the maximum allowed by law. This is part of the overall Agency RIF and Reorganization Plan—commonly referred to as AARP. This is in addition to the approximately 600 employees laid off on March 3, 2025, and the continuation efforts of GSA and other agencies to reduce their respective workforces.

The GSA, and other agencies, are taking immediate actions to reduce headcounts of federal employees as part of the Presidential EO on Department of Government Efficiency and Workforce Optimization Initiative and the accompanying OPM/OMB Memo directing agencies to focus on statutorily mandated functions as a priority for reorganization and Reductions in Force (RIFs). “Pursuant to the President’s direction, agencies should focus on maximum elimination of function that are not statutorily mandated while driving the highest-quality, most efficient delivery of their “statutorily-required functions.” Agencies are also instructed to refer to functions exempted from the Antideficiency Act (ADA), which does not allow an agency to spend funds that are not allocated to it. Hence, the agency must seek approval for the lump sum payments to ensure that the funds are obligated to it. Lots of acronyms here for approval but the basics are this for an agency to seek and receive these funds to payout for lose federal employees leaving by December—even those that are seeking early retirement and subject to earlier RIFs. To qualify for early retirement, a federal worker must be 50 years old with at least 20 years of service or have at least 25 years of service with no age requirement.