Workforce Deep Dive
Beyond the headlines — who's actually leaving the federal government, what experience is walking out the door, and which agencies face the biggest risks. All from official OPM data.
🔴 Retirement Cliff
18.9% of the federal workforce is eligible to retire right now.
Retirement Eligible
392.1K
18.9% of workforce
Total Workforce
2.07M
December 2025
Highest Risk Agency
Government Publishing Off
40.7% eligible
Highest Risk Job
Administrative Law Judge
52.5% eligible
Agencies with Highest Retirement %
Jobs with Highest Retirement %
👋 Who's Leaving in 2025?
335.2K separations in 2025 vs 225.1K in 2024. Here's how the profile changed.
By Age
By Length of Service
Top Occupations Losing People (2025)
🧠 Experience Exodus
Are the most experienced employees walking out the door?
Avg Tenure (2025 Leavers)
13.1 yrs
Length of service
Avg Tenure (2024 Leavers)
13.6 yrs
Length of service
20+ Year Vets Leaving (2025)
27.4%
91.8K people
20+ Year Vets Leaving (2024)
24.3%
54.6K people
Agencies Losing Most Experienced Staff (2025, by avg tenure of leavers)
🔬 STEM Brain Drain
Is the government losing its scientists, engineers, and tech workers?
STEM Employees
552.3K
26.6% of workforce
Non-STEM
1.52M
STEM Avg Salary
$0
Non-STEM Avg Salary
$0
Agencies with Most STEM Workers
👔 The Manager Question
DOGE says there's too much bureaucracy. Here are the actual numbers.
Manager:Staff Ratio
1:5
Overall
Managers & Supervisors
348.5K
16.8% of workforce
Individual Contributors
1.73M
Manager Ratio by Agency
🌍 Federal Employees Abroad
983.8K civilian federal employees work outside the United States.
Overseas
983.8K
47.4%
Countries
20
Overseas Avg Salary
$135,523
Domestic Avg Salary
$116,706
Top Countries
Top Agencies Abroad
📊 Pay Grade Distribution
GS levels, SES, and other pay scales across the federal government.
Related Analysis
Key Findings
The real state of the federal workforce — DOGE effect, retirement cliff, and experience drain.
Explore →Agency Risk Dashboard
Which agencies face the highest restructuring risk based on workforce trends.
Explore →Workforce Demographics
Age, education, veteran status, and geographic distribution of federal employees.
Explore →Appointment Types
How DOGE cuts affected career, temporary, SES, and excepted service employees.
Explore →About this analysis
All data from OPM FedScope. Employment: December 2025. Separations: FY2020-2025. Retirement eligibility estimated from age + service brackets (FERS: 62+/5yr, 60+/20yr, MRA+30yr). Manager ratios use OPM supervisory status. STEM follows OPM coding.