(Reuters) – Over 20,000 U.S. federal employees, roughly 1% of the government workforce, have signed up for an offer to quit their jobs, a source said on Tuesday, in return for continuing to receive their salaries through the end of September.
Late last month, the Trump administration offered financial incentives to 2 million civilian full-time federal workers to quit as part of plans to drastically shrink the size of the government. They have until Feb. 6 to decide if they want to take part.
The administration is also implementing a hiring freeze.
The offer covers civilian employees except those in immigration, air traffic control, national security-related positions and people working for the U.S. Postal Service.
Layoffs across the federal government are likely after the buyout offer expires Thursday, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday, citing a memo from an official at the General Services Administration.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management didn’t immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
(Reporting by Bipasha Dey and Kanjyik Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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