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The initial plan to reduce the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) workforce by 15%—roughly 83,000 employees—has been revised. The VA announced that it expected to reduce its workforce by 30,000 positions through normal attrition, early retirements, and resignations by the end of fiscal year 2025, “eliminating the need for a large-scale reduction-in-force.” Most of the positions will not be replaced due to the federal hiring freeze, which has been extended for 3 months.
“Since March, we’ve been conducting a holistic review of the department centered on reducing bureaucracy and improving services to Veterans,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a press release. “A department-wide RIF is off the table, but that doesn’t mean we’re done improving VA.”
About 17,000 VA employees have left their jobs as of June 1. From now and Sept. 30, the department expects another reduction of nearly 12,000. Pete Kasperowicz, a VA spokesperson, said there would not be any reductions beyond the 30,000 planned.
The VA says it has multiple safeguards in place to ensure the reductions do not impact veteran care or benefits. All VA mission-critical positions are exempt from the voluntary early retirement authority and deferred resignation program, and > 350,000 positions are exempt from the federal hiring freeze.
The release noted several other improvements regarding VA performance in 2025, among them that the disability claims backlog has been reduced by 30% and a record 2 million disability claims have been processed by June. More than 60,000 VA employees have also returned to the office, according to the release.
“As a result of our efforts, VA is headed in the right direction – both in terms of staff levels and customer service,” Collins said. “Our review has resulted in a host of new ideas for better serving Veterans that we will continue to pursue.”
The initial plan to reduce the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) workforce by 15%—roughly 83,000 employees—has been revised. The VA announced that it expected to reduce its workforce by 30,000 positions through normal attrition, early retirements, and resignations by the end of fiscal year 2025, “eliminating the need for a large-scale reduction-in-force.” Most of the positions will not be replaced due to the federal hiring freeze, which has been extended for 3 months.
“Since March, we’ve been conducting a holistic review of the department centered on reducing bureaucracy and improving services to Veterans,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a press release. “A department-wide RIF is off the table, but that doesn’t mean we’re done improving VA.”
About 17,000 VA employees have left their jobs as of June 1. From now and Sept. 30, the department expects another reduction of nearly 12,000. Pete Kasperowicz, a VA spokesperson, said there would not be any reductions beyond the 30,000 planned.
The VA says it has multiple safeguards in place to ensure the reductions do not impact veteran care or benefits. All VA mission-critical positions are exempt from the voluntary early retirement authority and deferred resignation program, and > 350,000 positions are exempt from the federal hiring freeze.
The release noted several other improvements regarding VA performance in 2025, among them that the disability claims backlog has been reduced by 30% and a record 2 million disability claims have been processed by June. More than 60,000 VA employees have also returned to the office, according to the release.
“As a result of our efforts, VA is headed in the right direction – both in terms of staff levels and customer service,” Collins said. “Our review has resulted in a host of new ideas for better serving Veterans that we will continue to pursue.”
The initial plan to reduce the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) workforce by 15%—roughly 83,000 employees—has been revised. The VA announced that it expected to reduce its workforce by 30,000 positions through normal attrition, early retirements, and resignations by the end of fiscal year 2025, “eliminating the need for a large-scale reduction-in-force.” Most of the positions will not be replaced due to the federal hiring freeze, which has been extended for 3 months.
“Since March, we’ve been conducting a holistic review of the department centered on reducing bureaucracy and improving services to Veterans,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a press release. “A department-wide RIF is off the table, but that doesn’t mean we’re done improving VA.”
About 17,000 VA employees have left their jobs as of June 1. From now and Sept. 30, the department expects another reduction of nearly 12,000. Pete Kasperowicz, a VA spokesperson, said there would not be any reductions beyond the 30,000 planned.
The VA says it has multiple safeguards in place to ensure the reductions do not impact veteran care or benefits. All VA mission-critical positions are exempt from the voluntary early retirement authority and deferred resignation program, and > 350,000 positions are exempt from the federal hiring freeze.
The release noted several other improvements regarding VA performance in 2025, among them that the disability claims backlog has been reduced by 30% and a record 2 million disability claims have been processed by June. More than 60,000 VA employees have also returned to the office, according to the release.
“As a result of our efforts, VA is headed in the right direction – both in terms of staff levels and customer service,” Collins said. “Our review has resulted in a host of new ideas for better serving Veterans that we will continue to pursue.”
