OPM extends job placement programs for downsized feds

The Office of Personnel Management issued interim regulations Monday that would extend job placement programs for federal employees affected by government downsizing. The regulations aim to make permanent federal career transition assistance programs created in the mid-1990s for employees who lose their jobs through downsizing. The rules also remove requirements that agencies report on the programs and permanently eliminate placement programs used before 1996. In 1995, President Clinton directed agencies to give special selection status to employees displaced by government downsizing and to develop transition assistance programs to help them get back on their feet. The first set of regulations took effect in February 1996. Displaced employee programs already in use were temporarily suspended in favor of two new programs aimed at helping displaced employees take charge of their job searches. Last August, OPM extended the life of the new programs, known as the Career Transition Assistance Plan and the Interagency Career Transition Plan, until Sept. 30, 2001. The new rules would make the programs permanent. Prior to the new placement programs, the government relied on centralized lists of names to identify and place separated federal employees. That process was time-consuming and set lower standards for job qualifications and experience, OPM said. According to OPM, the revamped career transition assistance programs allow employees greater participation in the job placement process and make better matches between employees' qualifications and the type of positions they are seeking. The career transition programs, which together have placed nearly 4,000 displaced employees since 1996, are designed primarily to help employees affected by reductions-in-force. The interim rules took effect June 4, 2001. Written comments on them should be sent to:
Richard A. Whitford
Acting Associate Director for Employment
Office of Personnel Management
Suite 6500
1900 E Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20415-9000