GAO

United States General Accounting Office

Report to the Chairman, Subcommittee 

on Civil Service and Agency Organization, 

Committee on Government Reform, 

House of Representatives

April 2001 FEDERAL 

EMPLOYEE 

RETIREMENTS

Expected Increase 

Over the Next 5 Years 

Illustrates Need for 

Workforce Planning

GAO-01-509

Page 1 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

Contents

Letter 3

Appendixes Appendix I: Scope and Methodology 24

Appendix II: The Survey 28

Appendix III: List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations 32
Contents

Page 2 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements
Page 3 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

United States General Accounting Office

Washington, D.C. 20548 Letr

April 27, 2001

The Honorable Joe Scarborough

Chairman, Civil Service and Agency

Organization Subcommittee 

Committee on Government Reform

House of Representatives

Dear Mr. Chairman:

If the federal government is to effectively and efficiently manage the tasks 

and programs assigned to it through legislation, it must have a sufficient 

and qualified workforce. Ensuring that such a workforce will be in place in 

the future requires that federal agencies know what their skill needs will 

be, how well their workforces will meet those needs, and how those 

workforces will change over time. One important element that agencies 

must consider in their workforce planning is the number and kinds of 

employees they will lose to retirement. This consideration is important 

because retirees often represent an agency’s most experienced and 

knowledgeable staff. Reports about the increasing numbers of federal 

employees who will become eligible to retire over the next few years have 

raised questions about whether the government will be adequately 

prepared to meet any problems that could arise as a result of retirements. 

If large numbers of employees retire over a relatively short period and 

agencies are not effective in replacing them with the appropriate number of 

employees possessing the needed skills, the resulting loss of institutional 

knowledge and expertise could adversely affect mission achievement. The 

importance we place on workforce planning, including planning related to 

employee retirements, is illustrated by our recent designation of strategic 

human capital management as a governmentwide high-risk area that needs 

urgent attention to ensure that the federal government functions 

economically, efficiently, and effectively.1

1 High-Risk Series: An Update (GAO-01-263, Jan. 2001) and Human Capital: Meeting the 

Governmentwide High-Risk Challenge (GAO-01-357T, Feb. 2, 2001).
Page 4 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

Because of the problems that could occur with large numbers of 

retirements, you asked us to determine how many federal employees are 

likely to retire in the relatively near future. As agreed with your office, we 

(1) estimated the number of employees who would be eligible to retire and 

the number who would actually retire collectively and by agency for the 24 

federal agencies that fall under the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Act2

 for 

fiscal years 1999 through 2006, and compared those estimates with the 

number of employees who were eligible and actually retired during fiscal 

years 1991 through 1998; and (2) assessed actual and estimated eligibility 

and retirement for the same periods for selected occupations critical to the 

24 agencies. We used data from the Office of Personnel Management’s 

(OPM) Central Personnel Data File (CPDF) to determine actual eligibility 

and retirement numbers for fiscal years 1991 through 1998 and used 

standard statistical methods to estimate these numbers for fiscal years 

1999 through 2006. We surveyed the 24 agencies to determine the 

occupations they considered critical to accomplishing their missions and 

assessed the retirement picture for 29 of those occupations. We did our 

work from November 2000 through March 2001 in accordance with 

generally accepted government auditing standards. Details on our 

methodology are in appendix I.

Results in Brief A substantial portion of the federal workforce will become eligible to 

retire, and many who are eligible will retire between fiscal years 1999 and 

2006. We estimate that by 2006 about 31 percent3

 of the CFO agency 

employees working in 1998, or 493,000 people, will be eligible to retire, and 

that through the end of 2006 about half of the eligible employees (236,000 

people, the equivalent of 15 percent of the 1998 workforce) will actually 

retire. This 15-percent retirement rate is higher than the actual rate for 

fiscal years 1991 through 1998, which was 11 percent.

The estimated proportion of employees working in 1998 who will be 

eligible to retire by 2006 varied substantially across the 24 agencies we 

2

 These 24 agencies account for about 98 percent of Executive branch employees excluding 

the Postal Service, the Federal Reserve, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and intelligence 

agencies.

3

 The eligibility estimate of 31 percent is based on cumulative data, which includes those 

already eligible and those reaching retirement eligibility between fiscal years 1999 through 

2006 less the estimated 4 percent who are estimated to leave before they become eligible to 

retire.
Page 5 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

reviewed. Estimated retirement eligibility rates range from 24 percent at 

the Department of Justice (DOJ) to 50 percent at the Agency for 

International Development (AID). Three-quarters of the agencies are 

estimated to have eligibility rates of 30 percent or more. Estimated 

retirement rates through fiscal year 2006 also vary across agencies. They 

range from 7 percent at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

(NASA) to 29 percent at AID. One-third of the 24 agencies will experience 

retirement rates of 18 percent or more.

For those occupations that agencies consider critical to the 

accomplishment of their missions, retirements are likely to be particularly 

challenging for some agencies. We estimate that 25 of the 29 critical 

occupations we analyzed will experience a retirement eligibility rate of 30 

percent or more. The rates range from 27 percent for aerospace and 

electronic engineers to 53 percent for program managers. In addition, we 

estimate that 17 of the 29 occupations will experience retirement rates of 

18 percent or more, with a range of from 8 percent for electrical engineers 

to 30 percent for program managers. These rates represented the 24 

agencies combined, and some occupations within certain individual 

agencies will experience substantially higher rates.

The overall annual retirement rate that we estimate--about 2 percent per 

year--does not appear overwhelming, but it represents a major workforce 

planning challenge. Retirement estimates for the 24 CFO agencies are 

close in magnitude to the number of employees federal agencies eliminated 

to reduce the size of the federal workforce in response to the enactment of 

the Federal Workforce Restructuring Act from 1994 through 1998. Some 

agencies have experienced personnel-related problems since that 

downsizing, such as the loss of institutional knowledge, increased work 

backlogs, and skill imbalances, which affected their ability to carry out 

their missions. Agencies’ experiences with downsizing may provide insight 

for managing future expected retirement losses. We concluded that many 

of the unintended results from downsizing could have been mitigated had 

agencies done adequate strategic and workforce planning. The retirement 

rates we estimated for individual agencies and for critical occupations 

within agencies demonstrate the importance of each agency undertaking 

workforce planning. For example, while replacing 10 percent of a 

workforce over 8 years should be manageable with effective planning, 

replacing 25 percent is obviously much more challenging, especially if that 

includes replacing employees in hard-to-recruit critical occupations.
Page 6 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

In commenting on the report, OPM agreed that workforce planning is 

critical for assuring agencies have sufficient and appropriate staff and is 

especially important considering expected increases in employee 

retirements.

Background The federal workforce is in flux. The demographics of the workforce and 

the education and skills workers need to enable agencies to accomplish 

their missions are changing and will likely change even more in the future. 

The work that federal agencies perform increasingly requires employees 

who can use new technologies and are open to continuous learning to 

upgrade their skills and acquire new ones. Federal hiring is complicated by 

the fact that agencies face a more competitive job market than in the past. 

A compounding factor is the common expectation that a growing number 

of retirement eligible federal employees will be retiring over the next 5 

years and that those retiring are often the most experienced and 

knowledgeable employees. Other factors, such as the loss of federal 

employees to the private and nonprofit sectors, may further increase the 

difficulty of managing a changing federal workforce.
Page 7 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

To effectively deal with the expected retirements and other workforce 

challenges, an essential step for agencies is workforce planning--a process 

to identify human capital needs, assess how current staff and expected 

future staff will meet those needs, and create strategies to address any 

shortfalls or imbalances. As we have reported, the high-performing 

organization typically addresses its current and future workforce needs by 

estimating the number of employees it will need; the knowledge, skills, and 

abilities these employees will need to have for the organization to 

accomplish its goals; and where employees should be deployed across the 

organization.4

 High-performing organizations use this information to 

create strategies for identifying and filling gaps. OPM is on record 

supporting the need for federal agencies to use workforce planning to 

ensure that they have adequate staffs to accomplish their missions.5

 The 

National Academy of Public Administration has also reported on the 

importance of workforce planning as a means of achieving a workforce 

that has the right person in the right place at the right time.6

The workforce of the 24 CFO agencies declined significantly from 1992 

through 1998, from 2.2 million civilian employees to 1.8 million. Our view is 

that the widespread lack of attention to strategic human capital 

management in the past--including insufficient workforce planning during 

downsizing--has created a fundamental weakness in the federal 

government’s ability to efficiently, economically, and effectively deliver 

products and services to the public now and in the future. Consequently, 

we recently designated strategic human capital management as a 

governmentwide high-risk area.7

 One of the problems we identified across 

a range of federal agencies that led us to make this designation is 

particularly relevant to this report—that is, difficulties in acquiring and 

developing staffs whose size, skills, and deployment meet agency needs. 

With the aging of the federal workforce and the need to replace retirees, 

this challenge will likely become even more urgent in coming years.

4

Human Capital: Key Principles from Nine Private Sector Organizations

(GAO/GGD-00-28, Jan. 31, 2000).

5

Strategic Human Resources Management: Aligning with the Mission (OPM, MSE-99-8, 

Sept. 1999).

6

Building the Workforce of the Future to Achieve Organizational Success, National 

Academy of Public Administration, Dec. 1999, Washington, DC.

7

High-Risk Series: An update (GAO-01-263, Jan. 2001).
Page 8 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

Increasing Losses of Federal 

Employees Estimated

An increasing number of federal employees will become eligible to retire 

over the next several years. Most federal employees do not retire 

immediately upon reaching eligibility, and we estimated that they will put 

off retirement longer than in the past. Nevertheless, the number of federal 

workers retiring each year over the next 5 years will be higher than during 

the preceding 8-year period. We estimated that the magnitude of 

retirement losses alone from 1999 through 2006 will result in workers 

leaving at a rate greater than the losses the government experienced during 

the downsizing from 1994 through 1998. Figure 1 shows that the number of 

CFO agency employees becoming eligible to retire will generally rise until 

fiscal year 2007, after which it will gradually decline.

Figure 1: Number of CFO Agency Career Federal Employees Becoming Eligible to 

Retire for the First Time, Fiscal Years 1999 Through 2012 

Note: Estimates do not reflect likely attrition before becoming eligible to retire.

Source: GAO analysis of CPDF data as of Sept. 30, 1998.

A common estimate of federal retirement eligibility is cumulative and 

suggests that 35 percent of the CFO agencies’ 1998 workforce will be 

eligible to retire by 2006. In this report, however, we adjust the cumulative 

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Number of employees

Fiscal year

A
Page 9 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

estimate to account for employees who can be expected to leave federal 

service before becoming eligible to retire. Our analysis of CPDF data 

shows that 0.55 percent of federal employees left federal service each year 

in the 8 years prior to their eligibility dates. Eliminating those expected to 

leave prior to reaching retirement eligibility reduces the percentage of the 

1998 workforce who will be eligible to retire by 2006 to 31 percent (with 

about 23 percent of those employees becoming eligible for the first time 

between 1999 and 2006). 

Figure 2 illustrates the percentage of federal employees who became 

eligible each year between 1991 through 1998 and the percentage estimated 

to become eligible each year between 1999 and 2006. Between fiscal years 

1991 and 1998, the percentage of employees who became eligible to retire 

each year ranged from 1.8 to 2.1 percent. The percentage estimated to 

reach eligibility each fiscal year between 1999 and 2006 ranges from 2.3 to 

3.3 percent.
Page 10 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

Figure 2: Percentages of the 1990 and 1998 Workforce Becoming Eligible to Retire in Each Year, in the Subsequent 8-Year 

Periods (Accounting for Attrition)

Source: GAO analysis of CPDF data.

Upon reaching retirement eligibility, employees may leave immediately or 

continue working.8 Based on estimates derived from federal retirement 

trends over the past 10 years, there is a consistent downward trend in the 

likelihood of employees retiring within the first few years of eligibility. As 

figure 3 indicates, federal employees have become less likely—by roughly 

50 percent—to retire within their first year of eligibility. About 21 percent 

of the employees who became eligible to retire in fiscal year 1997 retired 

during their first year of eligibility. This is a 19-percentage point decrease 

from 1988, when 40 percent of those becoming eligible to retire actually did 

so. We did not attempt to determine why an increasing number of 

2 2.1 2.1 2 1.9 1.8 1.9 2

2.3

2.5

2.7

3.1

3.3 3.3

3.1 3.1

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Fiscal year

Percentage of total federal workforce eligible to retire for the first time

Estimations

Actual

A

8

Law enforcement officers and firefighters are subject to mandatory retirement 

requirements; however, some continue working longer with waivers.
Page 11 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

employees continue to work past their eligibility for retirement, because it 

was outside the scope of this report. However, labor force data maintained 

by the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that private sector workers are also 

remaining in the workforce longer. The percentage of private sector 

workers still working at age 65 or older increased from 10.8 percent in 1985 

to 12.8 percent in 2000.

Figure 3: Percentage of Each Year’s New Retirement Eligibles who Retired Within 1 

to 10 Years

Note: Each column represents the aggregate percentage of the year’s new retirement eligibles that 

have retired as of September 30, 1998. The difference between the aggregate percentage and 100 

percent represents the percentage that were still in federal service as of September 30, 1998. The top 

block in the chart--retirements in the fourth year or later after eligibility--is 1 year less for each year 

after 1988. For example, there are 9 years of separation data for 1989 eligibles, so the top block 

represents retirements within 4 to 9 years of eligibility; for 1990 eligibles, it represents retirements 

within 4 to 8 years of eligibility, etc. 

Source: GAO analysis.

40 40 43

32 31 31 26 23 22 21

13 15 8

11 11 9

10

9 9

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

20

21

20

18

15

12

7

1st year

2nd year

3rd year

4th - 10th year

Fiscal year

Percentage retiring

12 7

8

10 8 8

8

8

A
Page 12 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

On the basis of actual retirement trends from 1988 through 1998, we 

estimated that 15 percent of the fiscal year 1998 workforce will retire 

between 1999 and 2006 or a rate of about 2 percent a year. If Congress 

broadens agencies’ buyout authorities or makes other changes to civil 

service laws, a greater but unestimated number of employees may retire.9

 

The projected 15-percent retirement represents a 4-percentage point 

increase from retirements taken without buyouts in fiscal years 1991 

through 1998. In that 8-year period, nearly 202,500 career employees (11 

percent) took voluntary or mandatory retirements without buyouts and an 

additional 61,000 career employees retired with buyouts. We estimated 

that 63 percent of the employees who become eligible to retire each year 

from 1999 through 2006 will retire within 10 years after their eligibility 

dates. Most of these retirements are likely to occur within 4 years of 

eligibility. See figure 4 for a comparison of past and projected retirements.

9

We did not attempt to estimate retirements associated with future buyouts because we 

could neither estimate how many agencies would be given buyout authority, the nature of 

that authority, nor to what extent agencies would use buyouts.
Page 13 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

Figure 4: Past and Estimated Federal Workforce Retirements as a Percentage of the Fiscal Year 1990 or Fiscal Year 1998 

Workforce

Source: GAO analysis of CPDF data.

1.8

1.2

1.6

1.2 1.2 1.1 1.2 1.2

1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2 2 2.1

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Fiscal year

Percentage of total federal workforce retiring or estimated to retire

Estimations

Actual

A
Page 14 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

The retirement estimations from 1999 through 2006 are close in magnitude 

to the number of positions cut by federal agencies under Federal 

Workforce Restructuring Act from fiscal years 1994 through 1999. The act 

required agencies to eliminate 272,900 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions 

by 1999. The human capital shortfalls that developed during this 

downsizing may provide insight for managing the expected future 

retirement losses. In response to a 1995 survey, several agencies said that 

mandated downsizing resulted in a loss of institutional memory, increased 

work backlogs, and skill imbalances.10 Half of the 24 agencies surveyed 

said that the downsizing hindered their ability to carry out their missions. 

As a result of federal downsizing efforts, many federal agencies have done 

only limited recent recruiting and hiring. According to an OPM report on 

downsizing, one of the top three strategies for accomplishing downsizing 

was the hiring freeze.11 As our work at federal agencies has shown, 

downsizing without appropriate attention to maintaining the needed 

number of skilled employees has impaired some agencies’ ability to 

perform their core missions. 12 Without adequate workforce planning and 

succession strategies, the possibility exists that similar imbalances may 

result from retirement-related losses expected over the next 5 years, 

particularly at agencies with higher proportions of staff becoming eligible 

for retirement.

Projected Eligibility and 

Retirements Rates Differ 

Among Agencies

As figure 5 shows, the percentage of employees in the 1998 federal 

workforce in each agency who will be eligible to retire by the end of fiscal 

year 200613 will be substantial at all 24 of the agencies we reviewed. Every 

agency except one will see at least a quarter of its workforce eligible for 

retirement by 2006. 

10Federal Downsizing: Better Workforce and Strategic Planning Could Have Made 

Buyouts More Effective (GAO/GGD-96-62, Aug. 26, 1996).

11Report of an Oversight Special Study: Downsizing in the Federal Government, OPM, 

Office of Merit Systems Oversight and Effectiveness, Karen Bandera and Sherman Chin,

(Aug. 1998).

12See Human Capital: Managing Human Capital in the 21st Century (GAO/T-GGD-00-77, 

Mar. 9, 2000) and Human Capital: Meeting the Governmentwide High-Risk Challenge

(GAO-01-357T, Feb. 1, 2001).

13Estimates for retirement eligibility exclude roughly 5 percent of the fiscal year 1998 

workforce who would become eligible between fiscal years 1999 and 2006 but are projected 

to leave prior to reaching retirement eligibility. 
Page 15 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

Figure 5: Percentage of Each Agency’s Fiscal Year 1998 Workforce Who Will Be Eligible to Retire as of the End of Fiscal Year 

2006

Source: GAO analysis of CPDF data.

Based on past retirement patterns at each of the 24 CFO agencies, we 

calculated retirement estimates for each agency, for fiscal years 1999 

through 2006.14 We estimated that retirements will range from about 7 

percent of the 1998 workforce at NASA to about 29 percent at AID. 

Because the size of each agency’s 1988 workforce and the estimated 

retirement rates differed, the number of estimated retirements ranges from 

a low of 258 employees at the National Science Foundation (NSF) to a high 

of nearly 97,000 employees at Department of Defense (DOD). Figure 6 

shows our retirement estimates for each of the 24 agencies.

Percentage eligible to retire

31

50

28

32 33

37

27

36

33 32

39

30

24

36

31

39 41

27

37 40

45

41

27 26

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Agriculture

AID

Commerce

DOD

Education

Energy

EPA

FEMA

GSA

HHS

InteriorJustice

Labor

NASA

NRC

NSF

OPM

SBASSA

State

Transportation

Treasury

Veterans Affairs

HUD

A

14 The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) does not submit personnel action data to the 

CPDF. Consequently, retirement probabilities for FBI employees are based entirely upon 

the historical retirement data of all other Justice employees.
Page 16 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

Figure 6: Percentage of Each CFO Agency’s Fiscal Year 1998 Workforce Who We Estimate Will Actually Retire by 2006

Source: GAO analysis of CPDF data.

15

29

15 15

9 9 11

19

9

14

11 12 14

18

7

17

24

9

19 19

23

15 16 15

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Agriculture

AID

Commerce

DOD

Education

Energy

EPA

FEMA

GSA

HHS

Interior

Justice

Labor

NASA

NRC

NSF

OPM

SBASSA

State

Transportation

Treasury

HUD

Veterans Affairs

Percentage estimated to retire

A
Page 17 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

Estimated eligibility and retirement rates also likely vary at the component 

level within agencies. Thus, even those agencies that have relatively low 

agencywide percentages of employees estimated to retire may have 

components that will be heavily affected, which in turn could affect the 

accomplishment of mission tasks and strategic goals for agency 

components and for the agency as a whole. For example, while NASA is 

projected to lose only 7 percent of its staff at the agency level, some of its 

components could be affected severely by losses. As a result of NASA 

complying with the FWRA, several NASA and Aerospace Safety Advisory 

Panel studies concluded that the shuttle program workforce has suffered 

significantly from the agency’s past downsizing. 15 The studies concluded 

that the workforce may not be sufficient to support the planned shuttle 

flight rate and many key positions are not sufficiently staffed by qualified 

workers. Retirements that disproportionately affected specific areas, such 

as the space-shuttle program, could severely effect NASA’s ability to meet 

mission objectives.

The availability of workers with the necessary skills can also affect an 

agency’s ability to replace retiring workers. For example, NRC is estimated 

to lose about 7 percent of its staff. However, NRC’s ability to maintain the 

skills needed to achieve its mission and fill gaps created by retirement 

eligibilities could be threatened by the decline in university enrollments in 

nuclear engineering and other fields related to nuclear safety.

Projected Eligibility and 

Retirement Rates Differ 

Among Mission-Critical 

Occupations

Just as retirement eligibility and actual retirements will vary among 

agencies, we estimated that they will also vary among the 29 missioncritical occupations we reviewed. The percentage of employees estimated 

to reach retirement eligibility over the next several years will be substantial 

for many occupational series. As figure 7 indicates, between 27 percent 

and 53 percent of the 1998 employees in the selected occupations will be 

eligible to retire by the end of fiscal year 2006. 

15Independent Assessment of the Shuttle Processing Directorate Engineering and 

Management Processes, NASA’s Human Exploration and Development of Space 

Independent Assessment Office (Nov. 4, 1999); Report to Associate Administrator, Office 

of Space Flight, Space Shuttle Independent Assessment Team (Mar. 7, 2000); and Annual 

Report for 1999, Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (Feb. 2000).
Page 18 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

Figure 7: Estimated Percentage of Selected Mission-Critical Occupation’s Fiscal Year 1998 Workforce That Will Be Eligible to 

Retire as of the End of the Fiscal Year 2006

Source: GAO analysis of CPDF data.

Based on past retirement patterns for each of the selected occupations, we 

also calculated retirement estimates for fiscal years 1999 through 2006. We 

estimated that actual retirements in the 8-year period will range from 8 

percent for Electrical Engineers (GS-850) to 30 percent for Program 

GS-340 Program Management

GS-80 Security Administration

GS-105 Social Insurance Administration

GS-110 Economist

GS-201 Personnel Management

GS-301 Miscellaneous Administration and Program Series 

GS-334 Computer Specialist

GS-341 Administrative Officer

GS-343 Management and Program Analysis

GS-360 Equal Employment Opportunity Compliance

GS-391 Telecommunications

GS-511 Auditing

GS-512 Revenue Agent

GS-602 Medical Officer

GS-801 General Engineering

GS-802 Engineering Technician

GS-850 Electrical Engineering

GS-855 Electronics Engineering

GS-856 Electronics Technician

GS-861 Aerospace Engineering

GS-1101 General Business and Industry

GS-1102 Contracting

GS-1301 General Physical Science

GS-1310 Physics

GS-1320 Chemistry

GS-1341 Meteorological Technician

GS-1801 General Inspection, Investigation, & Compliance

GS-1811 Criminal Investigating Series

GS-1822 Mine Safety and Health

Occupations

53

47

46

44

44

43

42

41

40

40

39

39

39

39

38

38

37

35

35

34

34

33

32

30

29

28

27

27

Percentage eligible to retire

40

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

A
Page 19 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

Managers (GS-340). Figure 8 shows our retirement estimates for each of 

the 29 selected occupations.

Figure 8: Percentage of Selected Occupation’s Fiscal Year 1998 Workforce Estimated to Retire by 2006

Source: GAO analysis of CPDF data.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

GS-80 Security Administration

GS-105 Social Insurance Administration

GS-110 Economist

GS-201 Personnel Management

GS-301 Miscellaneous Administration and Program Series

GS-334 Computer Specialist

GS-340 Program Management

GS-341 Administrative Officer 

GS-343 Management and Program Analysis

GS-360 Equal Employment Opportunity Compliance

GS-391 Telecommunications

GS-511 Auditing

GS-512 Revenue

GS-602 Medical Officer

GS-801 General Engineering

GS-802 Engineering Technician

GS-850 Electrical Engineering

GS-855 Electronics Engineering

GS-856 Electronics Technician

GS-861 Aerospace Engineering

GS-1101 General Business and Industry

GS-1102 Contracting

GS-1301 General Physical Science

GS-1310 Physics

GS-1320 Chemistry

GS-1341 Meteorological Technician

GS-1801 General Inspection, Investigation, & Compliance

GS-1811 Criminal Investigating Series

GS-1822 Mine Safety and Health

Occupations Percentage estimated to retire

8

10

13

14

14

14

14

16

16

16

17

17

18

18

18

18

19

19

19

19

20

20

21

22

23

25

27

29

30
Page 20 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

It is also important to know the total number of estimated losses for each 

occupation, because occupations with similar percentages retiring could 

provide different challenges in workforce planning. For example, of the 29 

selected mission critical occupations, the occupation with the smallest 

number of employees estimated to retire and the one with the largest have 

close retirement percentages. Numerically, we estimated 289 

Meteorological Technicians (GS-1341) and 9,217 Criminal Investigators 

(GS-1811) will retire. However, these numbers represent 29 percent of the 

Meteorological Technicians (GS-1341) and 27 percent of Criminal 

Investigators (GS-1811). If management chooses to replace these losses, 

depending on the job markets, it could be more of a recruitment challenge 

to replace a large number of employees in one occupation than a smaller 

number in another, even though their percentages of losses are similar. 

Conversely, if only a small number of people work in an occupation, 

replacing a few of them could be very challenging.

Retirement and eligibility estimates for the selected occupations are based 

on the aggregate workforce of the 24 agencies. Consequently, to determine 

agencywide, and perhaps component-specific, eligibility and retirement 

estimates for mission critical occupations, agencies would need to conduct 

analyses of their own specific workforce needs. For example, the 

Departments of Labor and Justice (along with 14 other CFO agencies) 

identified Criminal Investigators (GS-1811) as a mission critical 

occupation. However, while about 50 (or 40 percent) of Labor’s criminal 

investigators were eligible to retire in fiscal year 1999, about 3,500 (or 18 

percent) of Justice’s criminal investigators were eligible. These and other 

workforce demographics are an essential part of comprehensive workforce 

analyses because they indicated different human capital consequences that 

will require different actions to address them. For example, although the 

number of criminal investigators eligible to retire at Labor is relatively low, 

the percentage of that occupation eligible to retire is significant, and 

represents a considerable loss of institutional knowledge. Alternatively, at 

Justice, where 18 percent of criminal investigators are eligible to retire, the 

loss of institutional knowledge may not be as great of a concern. However, 

replacing 3,500 employees could present significant recruiting challenges 

for Justice. Recruiting concerns are particularly noteworthy in the case of 

Criminal Investigators (GS-1811), given that 15 other agencies listed the 

occupation as mission-critical, adding interagency competition to the 

existing competition with state and local governments and the private 

sector. This is especially problematic with occupations such as the 

Computer Specialist Series (GS-334), which was identified by all 24 
Page 21 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

agencies as mission critical and is a field for which there is keen 

competition from the private sector. 

Conclusions Federal agencies will be facing an increased loss of employees to 

retirement over the next 5 years. The number of employees retiring will be 

roughly equivalent to the decrease in employees during the downsizing of 

the 1990s, which, because of inadequate human capital management 

accompanying downsizing, resulted in a number of problems affecting the 

ability of agencies to accomplish their missions. We believe that the 

challenges facing the federal government from retirements over the next 5 

years make it imperative that agency officials act promptly to ensure their 

workforce’s will be adequate in the future to efficiently, economically, and 

effectively deliver products and services to the public.

It is generally accepted that workforce planning that assesses current and 

future needs, matches those needs to the skills and abilities of current and 

expected future employees, and devises strategies to overcome any 

shortfalls or imbalances is necessary to ensure the availability of adequate 

human capital. Managing the effect of federal retirements on an agency’s 

capability to accomplish its missions is an important part of workforce 

planning.

In designating strategic human capital management as a governmentwide 

high-risk area, we pointed out the importance of agencies acquiring and 

developing staffs whose size, skills, and deployment meets agency needs. 

Workforce planning is a key step toward this goal. We also found in our 

previous work that workforce planning is an important element of human 

capital management in the private sector, and that federal agencies need to 

have good workforce planning to enable them to accomplish their 

missions. Our estimates for retirement eligibility and actual retirements, 

overall and for agencies and critical occupations, further illustrate the 

importance of each agency conducting workforce planning so that their 

own special needs and circumstances are considered and so that they do 

not find themselves with staffing skills shortfalls.

OPM has begun stressing to agencies the importance of integrating 

strategic human capital management into agency planning. OPM has also 

been focusing more attention on developing workforce planning tools to 

help agencies. For example, it has developed a workforce planning model 

with associated research tools and has launched a website to facilitate 

information sharing about workforce planning issues.
Page 22 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

Agency Comments OPM agreed that it is critical for agencies to use workforce planning to 

address the challenges in replenishing the federal workforce. OPM also 

strongly supported our use of statistical workforce analysis to estimate the 

likely retirements rather than limiting the analysis to the number of 

employees eligible to retire, which can be misleading. Additionally, the 

agency agreed with the trends shown in our estimates although its 

estimates are somewhat higher due to differences in our methodologies. 

For example, OPM included likely early out retirements in its projections 

while ours did not. Our estimating method is more conservative than 

OPM’s but its method is also reasonable. Our and OPM’s estimates both 

illustrate the need for workforce planning.

We are sending copies of this report to Senator Richard J. Durbin, Senator 

Joseph I. Lieberman, Senator Fred Thompson, Senator George V. 

Voinovich, and to Representative Judy Biggert, Representative Dan Burton, 

Representative Elijah E. Cummings, Representative Steve Horn, 

Representative Asa Hutchinson, Representative Jim Turner, and 

Representative Henry A. Waxman, in their capacities as Chair or Ranking 

Member of Senate Committees and Subcommittees or Chair or Ranking 

Minority Member of House Committees and Subcommittees. We are also 

sending copies of this report to the Honorable Steven R. Cohen, Acting 

Director, Office of Personnel Management, the heads of the 24 CFO 

agencies, and other interested parties. We will make copies available to 

others on request.

If you or your staff have any questions on this report, please call me or 

Thomas G. Dowdal on (202) 512-6806. Key contributors to this report were 

Walter E. Reed, Jr. and Rebecca Shea.

Victor S. Rezendes

Managing Director, Strategic Issue
Page 23 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements
Page 24 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

Appendix I

Scope and Methodology ApApenednxidexiIs

Our objectives were to (1) estimate the number of employees who would 

be eligible to retire and the number who would actually retire for fiscal 

years 1999 through 2006 at 24 major agencies, and compare those estimates 

with the number of employees who were eligible and actually retired 

during fiscal years 1991 through 1998; (2) assess actual and estimated 

eligibility and retirement for the same periods for each of the 24 agencies; 

and (3) assess actual and estimated eligibility and retirement for the same 

periods for selected occupations critical to the 24 agencies. To accomplish 

these objectives, we 

• determined retirement eligibility rates for fiscal years 1999 through 2006 

by applying retirement plan eligibility rules to data in Office of 

Personnel Management’s (OPM) Central Personnel Data File (CPDF) 

using employees age at hire, birth date, and retirement plan;

• determined past retirement rates by analyzing separation data from 

OPM’s CPDF for fiscal years 1991 through 1998;

• estimated retirement rates for fiscal years 1999 through 2006 by creating 

a forecasting model using retirement trends for fiscal years 1988 

through 1997;

• determined the extent of change between retirement rates for fiscal 

years 1991 through 1998 and projected retirement rates for fiscal years 

1999 through 2006;

• surveyed the 24 CFO agencies to determine the occupations they 

consider critical to achieving their missions and strategic goals and 

analyzed historical and projected retirement data for 29 selected 

occupations that agencies identified; and

• reviewed our prior work and current literature on retirement 

projections and workforce planning to provide context. 
Appendix I

Scope and Methodology

Page 25 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

Estimated Retirement 

Eligibility and Projected 

Retirements

To determine the federal employee retirement eligibility and projected 

retirement estimates for fiscal years 1999 through 2006, we used OPM’s 

CPDF. Retirement eligibility dates were calculated using age at hire, years 

of service, birth date, and retirement plan coverage. Probabilities for 

retirement between fiscal years 1999 and 2006 were developed from actual 

separation data, of which retirement is a component, for fiscal years 1988 

through 1998. We calculated retirement probabilities for the entire CFO 

workforce, for each agency, and for 29 selected occupations. Employees 

who retired with a buyout were excluded from the analysis to avoid 

overstating estimated future retirements.1

 The Federal Bureau of 

Investigation (FBI) does not submit personnel action data, such as 

retirements or other separations, to the CPDF. Consequently, retirement 

probabilities for FBI employees are based entirely upon the historical 

retirement data of all other Justice employees. Also, governmentwide 

retirement data from fiscal years 1991 through 1998 are slightly lower than 

actual because of the unreported FBI retirements. We did not 

independently verify the CPDF data for the years we reviewed. However, 

in a 1998 report, we found that governmentwide data from the CPDF for 

the key variables in this study (agency, birth date, service computation 

date, occupation, and retirement plan) were 99 percent or more accurate. 2

Specifically, using the population of career employees on board as of 

September 30, 1987, we selected, on the basis of retirement plan, length of 

service, age at hire, and birth date, employees who were either already 

eligible to retire, or who would become eligible to retire by September 30, 

1997. The separation activity of this extracted population was tracked 

through September 30, 1998, providing a 10-year time period of actual 

retirement data (1988 to 1998) upon which to base retirement projections. 

Separation activity from 1988 to 1998 for the selected population consisted 

of the following actions: (1) separation from federal service prior to 

reaching retirement eligibility, (2) retirement after reaching retirement 

eligibility, (3) separation other than retirement upon reaching retirement 

eligibility, and (4) no separation within the 10-year time period. For each 

1

 During the 1990s, federal agencies could, within certain parameters, offer employees up to 

$25,000 to leave federal employment. This incentive was referred to as a buyout and was 

used to help reduce the size of the federal workforce.

2

OPM’s Central Personnel Data File: Data Appear Sufficiently Reliable to Meet Most 

Customer Needs (GAO/GGD-98-199, Sept. 30, 1998)
Appendix I

Scope and Methodology

Page 26 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

year, we calculated frequencies for separation prior to eligibility and for 

retirement for each cohort of employees becoming eligible to retire for the 

first time that year. For example, of those who became eligible to retire in 

fiscal year 1988, we determined the percentage that retired each year 

through September 30, 1998. Similarly, of the employees who became 

eligible in fiscal year 1997, we determined the percentage that separated 

each year since 1988. Due to data limitations, both ends of the prediction 

spectrums are truncated. Taking employees who became eligible in fiscal 

year 1995 as an example, we could only determine the number who actually 

retired within 3 years of eligibility because our latest separation data was 

for 1998. Similarly, for this cohort, we could only derive frequencies for 

separation prior to eligibility for 7 years, since our earliest separation data 

was for 1988. 

Final retirement probabilities are the average of three summary statistics of 

retirement and separation frequencies for the 10-year time period. The 

three summary statistics are (1) the 10-year average, (2) the most recent 

data point, and (3) the next data point on a fitted regression line. The 

probabilities for each of the 10 years do not total 100 percent--the amount 

under 100 percent represents employees who are expected to retire after 

the 10-year time period.

We applied the retirement and preeligibility separation probabilities to 

career employees on board as of September 30, 1998, and calculated 

estimates through fiscal year 2006. Because we excluded retirements 

taken with buyouts, early-out retirements, and disability retirements from 

our trend data, our projections for future retirement are for regular, 

voluntary, and mandatory retirements only. At the time we started our 

analysis, we had CPDF data only through 1998. However, we later received 

1999 data and compared our retirement estimates with actual retirements 

taken without buyouts in fiscal year 1999 and found that they differed by 

only 127 people, or 0.5 percent less than the actual.

We used these same techniques to estimate future retirements within each 

of the 24 CFO agencies and within the 29 selected occupations.

Identifying Mission-Critical 

Occupations

We surveyed the 24 CFO agencies in June 1999 to determine the 

occupations they considered critical to achieving their missions. 

(See app. II for the survey.) Each agency determined which occupations 

they considered mission critical in responding to the survey. Agencies 

provided listings of occupations by agency title and OPM series number. 
Appendix I

Scope and Methodology

Page 27 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

We focused on the OPM series number and compiled a listing of 

occupations using the OPM official titles. We did this because agencies’

listings often used different agency titles with the same occupational series 

number. Focusing on the series number, agencies identified 364 

occupations as mission critical, as shown in table I. About 43 percent of 

the 364 occupations identified as mission-critical were cited by only 1 

agency, about 17 percent were identified by 2 agencies, and about 40 

percent were identified by 3 or more agencies. We judgmentally selected 

29 of the 364 occupations for review based on the following criteria, which 

required that the occupation 

• included at least 100 employees in fiscal year 1998 at each agency that 

identified them as mission critical,

• had at least a 10-percent eligibility rate for retirement within the agency 

as of the end of fiscal year 1999, 

• met the above criteria for 3 or more agencies, and

• included at least 1000 employees governmentwide who would become 

eligible to retire between 1988 and 1998. 

We also selected three occupations that were each identified as mission 

critical by only one agency and which represented at least 8 percent of that 

agency’s workforce. For example, the Social Insurance Administration 

series (GS-105) is only employed by the Social Security Administration and 

represents 41 percent of the agency’s workforce. 

We used these criteria to help us select occupations that could represent 

the most significant future retirement challenges or opportunities for the 24 

CFO agencies. 
Page 28 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

Appendix II

The Survey ApendxiI

GAO U. S. General Accounting Office

Retirement Trends and Succession Patterns

Facing the Federal Workforce

Introduction

The U.S. General Accounting Office, an investigative agency of Congress, has been asked by the House Subcommittee on

Civil Service to review retirement trends and succession patterns facing the federal workforce. The issues we are focusing

on in this review center on workforce challenges in the near future due to demographic changes, specifically the loss of

federal personnel as they age and retire, and the ability of federal agencies to replace them with skilled and qualified

personnel.

There are two separate data collection instruments contained in this package. Each focuses on employment trends for

mission critical occupations in your department/agency. Specifically, we are interested in actual retention rates and

potential problems in retaining and replacing staff in mission critical occupations in the near future as well as in the more

distant future. Our definition of a mission critical occupation is found at the top of form “A”.

The forms included in this package are as follows:

Form “A” – is a form for listing of all mission critical occupations for each major separate sub-component

(e.g., bureau, command, etc.) of your department or agency.

Form “B” – is a form that contains a series of questions focusing on each separate mission critical occupation

identified by each major separate component (e.g., bureau, command, etc.) of your department or agency.

Instructions for Completing Forms “A” and “B”

Forms “A” and “B” should be completed at the department/agency level and for each major separate sub-component

(e.g., bureau, command, etc.) of the department or agency.

 Make as many photocopies of forms “A” and “B” as necessary.

 Complete one copy of form “A” listing all occupations considered to be mission critical.

 For each of the occupations listed on form “A”, a separate copy of form “B” must be completed.

 Return all completed forms to the point of contact at your department or agency headquarters.

If you have any questions, please call Mr. Walter Reed at (202) 512-5584. Thank you for your assistance.
Appendix II

The Survey

Page 29 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

Form A (Page 1 of 1)

Form A - Listing of all mission critical occupations

Department/Agency/Bureau/Command name: __________________________________________________________

Please list below all mission critical occupations for your department/agency/or sub-component (bureau, office, etc.).

Mission critical occupations fall into two categories as defined below.

Mission Critical Occupations:

Core mission occupations - Occupations that most directly affect the department’s/agency’s ability to accomplish

its missions. For example, an air traffic controller likely would be a “core mission”

occupation for the FAA.

Critical support occupations - Occupations that provide support for the “core mission” occupations.

For example, a computer systems specialist likely would be a “critical

support” occupation for the FAA.

When entering series numbers and series titles, please use OPM’s standard job series numbers and series titles

Core Mission Occupations

Series number Series title

_________ _________________________________

_________ _________________________________

_________ _________________________________

_________ _________________________________

_________ _________________________________

_________ _________________________________

_________ _________________________________

_________ _________________________________

_________ _________________________________

_________ _________________________________

_________ _________________________________

_________ _________________________________

_________ _________________________________

Critical Support Occupations

Series number Series title

_________ _________________________________

_________ _________________________________

_________ _________________________________

_________ _________________________________

_________ _________________________________

_________ _________________________________

_________ _________________________________

_________ _________________________________

_________ _________________________________

_________ _________________________________

_________ _________________________________

_________ _________________________________

_________ _________________________________

Please make as many photocopies of form B as necessary and

complete a photocopy of form B for each occupation listed above.
Appendix II

The Survey

Page 30 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

Form B (Page 1 of 2) Please make as many photocopies of this form as necessary.

Form B - Mission Critical Occupation Form

Department/Agency/Bureau/Command name: ________________________________________________________

When entering series numbers and series titles, please use OPM’s standard job series numbers and series titles.

Series number: _____________ Series title: ____________________________________________

a. Do you consider this job series (occupation) to be core mission or critical support as defined on the top of form A? (Check one.)

1. ❒ Core mission (Most directly affects agency’s ability to accomplish its mission, e.g., FAA - air traffic controller)

2. ❒ Critical support (Provides support for the core mission occupations, e.g., FAA - computer systems analyst)

b. Please indicate the level of difficulty your department/agency has had and anticipates having in retaining sufficient

staff in this job series for the following time frames. (Check one box in each row.)

Time period

Very

difficult

(1)

Somewhat

difficult

(2)

Not

difficult

(3)

No basis

to judge

(4)

FY 1997

FY 1998

FY 1999 through 2000

FY 2005 through 2006

c. Please indicate the level of difficulty your department/agency has had and anticipates having in recruiting sufficient

staff in this job series for the following time frames. (Check one box in each row.)

Time period

Very

difficult

(1)

Somewhat

difficult

(2)

Not

difficult

(3)

No basis

to judge

(4)

FY 1997

FY 1998

FY 1999 through 2000

FY 2005 through 2006

d. Currently, how easy or difficult is it for your

department/agency to find employees in this job series

that meet your criteria for quality? (Check one.)

1. ❒ Very easy

2. ❒ Somewhat easy

3. ❒ Somewhat difficult

4. ❒ Very difficult

e. If you checked box 3 or 4 (somewhat or very difficult)

in question d, to what extent, if at all, has your

department/agency hired staff in this job series who,

in your estimation, are of lower quality than you

would have desired? (Check one.)

1. ❒ To a very great extent

2. ❒ To a great extent

3. ❒ To a moderate extent

4. ❒ To some extent

5. ❒ To little or no extent

-----------------------------

6. ❒ No basis to judge

(Continued on page 2)
Appendix II

The Survey

Page 31 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

Form B (Page 2 of 2)

f. To the best of your knowledge, at the current time, do the following factors make it difficult, easy, or have no effect

on your department’s/agency’s ability to retain staff in this job series? (Check one box in each row.)

Retention Factors

Makes it

very

difficult

(1)

Makes it

somewhat

difficult

(2)

Has

no

effect

(3)

Makes it

somewhat

easy

(4)

Makes it

very

easy

(5)

No basis

to judge

(6)

a. Pay compared to nonfederal employers (private sector,

state/local government)

b. Benefits (leave, retirement, health insurance, etc)

compared to nonfederal employers.

c. Content of work (challenging assignments, federal

issues, etc.)

d. Availability of job opportunities for similar work outside

of the federal government

e. Reputation/image of the federal government as an employer

f. Opportunities for promotion

g. Availability of awards or recognition

h. Availability of training/opportunities for growth

i. Job security provided by the federal government

j. Ability of FERS employees to leave the federal government

for the private sector

k. Other-Specify: ________________________________

g. To the best of your knowledge, at the current time, do the following factors make it difficult, easy, or have no effect

on your department’s/agency’s ability to recruit staff in this job series? (Check one box in each row.)

Recruitment Factors

Makes it

very

difficult

(1)

Makes it

somewhat

difficult

(2)

Has

no

effect

(3)

Makes it

somewhat

easy

(4)

Makes it

very

easy

(5)

No basis

to judge

(6)

a. Pay compared to nonfederal employers (private sector,

state/local government)

b. Benefits (leave, retirement, health insurance, etc)

compared to nonfederal employers.

c. Content of work (challenging assignments, federal

issues, etc.)

d. Availability of job opportunities for similar work outside

of the federal government

e. Reputation/image of the federal government as an employer

f. Opportunities for promotion

g. Availability of awards or recognition

h. Availability of training/opportunities for growth

i. Job security provided by the federal government

j. Ability of FERS employees to leave the federal government

for the private sector

k. Other-Specify: ________________________________
Page 32 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations ApendxiI

Line 

Item Series Title

Series 

Number USDA Comm DOD DOEd DOE HHS HUD DOI DOJ

1. Correctional Institution 

Administration Series

GS-0006

1

2. Correctional Officer Series GS-0007 1

3. Safety and Occupational Health 

Management Series

GS-0018

1 1 1 1 1 1

4. Safety Technician Series GS-0019 1

5. Community Planning Series GS-0020

6. Outdoor Recreation Planning 

Series

GS-0023

1

7. Park Ranger Series GS-0025 1

8. Environmental Protection 

Specialist Series

GS-0028

1 1 1

9. Environmental Protection 

Assistant Series

GS-0029

10. Chaplain Series GS-0060 1

11. Fingerprint Identification Series GS-0072

12. Security Administration Series GS-0080 1 1

13. Fire Protection and Prevention 

Series

GS-0081

1

14. Police Series GS-0083 1 1 1

15. Nuclear Materials Courier Series GS-0084 1

16. Security Guard Series GS-0085 1

17. Social Science Series GS-0101 1 1 1 1 1

18. Social Science Aide and 

Technician Series

GS-0102

1

19. Social Insurance Administration 

Series

GS-0105

20. Unemployment Insurance Series GS-0106

21. Health Insurance Administration 

Series

GS-0107

1

22. Economist Series GS-0110 1 1 1 1 1

23. Foreign Affairs Series GS-0130 1
Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 33 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

Agencies That Identified a Series as Mission Critical

DOL DOS DOT Treas VA AID EPA FEMA GSA NASA NSF NRC OPM SBA SSA

Total

Agencies

1

1

1 1 1 1 10

1

1 1 2

1

1

1 1 1 1 7

1 1

1

1 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9

1

1 1 5

1

1

1 1 1 8

1

1 1

1 1

1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 12

1 2
Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 34 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

24. International Relations Series GS-0131

25. Intelligence Series GS-0132 1 1

26. International Cooperation Series GS-0136

27. Manpower Development Series GS-0142

28. Geography Series GS-0150 1 1

29. Civil Rights Analysis Series GS-0160

30. History Series GS-0170 1

31. Psychology Series GS-0180 1 1 1

32. Psychology Aide and Technician 

Series

GS-0181

1

33. Social Work Series GS-0185 1

34. Social Services Aide and 

Assistant Series

GS-0186

1

35. Social Services Series GS-0187 1

36. Archaeology Series GS-0193 1

37. Personnel Management Series GS-0201 1 1 1 1 1 1

38. Personnel Clerical and 

Assistance Series

GS-0203

1 1 1 1

39. Military Personnel Clerical and 

Technician Series

GS-0204

1

40. Military Personnel Management 

Series

GS-0205

1

41. Personnel Staffing Series GS-0212 1

42. Personnel Classification Series GS-0221 1

43. Employee Relations Series GS-0230 1 1 1

44. Labor Relations Series GS-0233 1 1

45. Employee Development Series GS-0235 1 1 1

46. Apprenticeship and Training 

Series

GS-0243

47. Contractor Industrial Relations 

Series

GS-0246

1

48. Wage and Hour Compliance 

Series

GS-0249

 (Continued From Previous Page)

Line 

Item Series Title

Series 

Number USDA Comm DOD DOEd DOE HHS HUD DOI DOJ
Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 35 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

1 1

1 1 1 5

1 1

1 1

1 3

1 1

1 2

1 1 1 1 7

1

1 2

1

1

1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 18

1 1 1 1 1 9

1

1

1 1 1 4

1 1 3

1 1 1 1 7

1 1 1 5

1 1 1 1 1 8

1 1

1

1 1

Agencies That Identified a Series as Mission Critical

DOL DOS DOT Treas VA AID EPA FEMA GSA NASA NSF NRC OPM SBA SSA

Total

Agencies
Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 36 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

49. Equal Employment Opportunity 

Series

GS-0260

1 1 1 1 1

50. Federal Retirement Benefits 

Series

GS-0270

51. Miscellaneous Administration and 

Program Series

GS-0301

1 1 1 1 1 1 1

52. Miscellaneous Clerk and 

Assistant Series

GS-0303

1 1 1 1

53. Information Receptionist Series GS-0304 1

54. Mail and File Series GS-0305 1 1

55. Secretary Series GS-0318 1 1 1 1 1

56. Clerk-Typist Series GS-0322 1

57. Office Automation Clerical and 

Assistance Series

GS-0326

1 1

58. Computer Operation Series GS-0332 1 1

59. Computer Specialist Series GS-0334 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

60. Computer Clerk and Assistant 

Series

GS-0335

1 1

61. Program Management Series GS-0340 1 1 1

62. Administrative Officer Series GS-0341 1 1 1 1 1

63. Support Services Administration 

Series

GS-0342

64. Management and Program 

Analysis Series

GS-0343

1 1 1 1 1 1 1

65. Management and Program 

Clerical and Assistance Series

GS-0344

1 1 1

66. Logistics Management Series GS-0346 1 1 1

67. Equipment Operator Series GS-0350 1 1

68. Printing Clerical Series GS-0351 1

69. Data Transcriber Series GS-0356

70. Equal Opportunity Compliance 

Series

GS-0360

1 1

71. Telephone Operating Series GS-0382 1

72. Telecommunications Processing 

Series

GS-0390

 (Continued From Previous Page)

Line 

Item Series Title

Series 

Number USDA Comm DOD DOEd DOE HHS HUD DOI DOJ
Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 37 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

1 1 1 1 1 10

1 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 18

1 1 1 1 1 9

1

1 3

1 1 1 1 1 1 11

1

1 1 1 5

1 1 4

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 24

1 1 4

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10

1 1 1 1 1 10

1 1 1 3

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 17

1 1 5

1 1 5

1 3

1

1 1

1 1 4

1

1 1

Agencies That Identified a Series as Mission Critical

DOL DOS DOT Treas VA AID EPA FEMA GSA NASA NSF NRC OPM SBA SSA

Total

Agencies
Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 38 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

73. Telecommunications Series GS-0391 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

74. General Telecommunications 

Series

GS-0392

75. Adminstration and Office Support 

Student Trainee Series

GS-0399

76. General Biological Science Series GS-0401 1 1 1 1 1

77. Microbiology Series GS-0403 1 1

78. Biological Science Technician 

Series

GS-0404

1 1 1

79. Pharmacology Series GS-0405 1

80. Ecology Series GS-0408 1 1

81. Physiology Series GS-0413 1

82. Entomology Series GS-0414 1

83. Toxicology Series GS-0415 1

84. Botany Series GS-0430 1

85. Plant Physiology Series GS-0435

86. Genetics Series GS-0440 1

87. Rangeland Management Series GS-0454 1

88. Range Technician Series GS-0455 1

89. Forestry Series GS-0460 1

90. Forestry Technician Series GS-0462 1

91. General Fish and Wildlife 

Administration Series

GS-0480

1

92. Fishery Biology Series GS-0482 1 1

93. Wildlife Refuge Management 

Series

GS-0485

1

94. Wildlife Biology Series GS-0486 1

95. Financial Administration and 

Program Series

GS-0501

1 1 1 1 1

96. Financial Clerical and Assistance GS-0503

97. Financial Management Series GS-0505 1 1 1 1 1

98. Accounting Series GS-0510 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

99. Auditing Series GS-0511 1 1 1 1 1 1

 (Continued From Previous Page)

Line 

Item Series Title

Series 

Number USDA Comm DOD DOEd DOE HHS HUD DOI DOJ
Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 39 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 16

1 1 1 3

1 1

1 1 1 8

1 3

1 4

1

1 3

1 2

1

1 2

1

1 1

1

1

1

1

1

1

2

1

1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 14

1 1 1 1 4

1 1 1 1 9

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 20

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 15

Agencies That Identified a Series as Mission Critical

DOL DOS DOT Treas VA AID EPA FEMA GSA NASA NSF NRC OPM SBA SSA

Total

Agencies
Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 40 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

100. Revenue Agent GS-0512

101. Accounting Technicians GS-0525 1 1 1 1

102. Tax Auditor GS-0526

103. Cash Processing Series GS-0530

104. Voucher Examining Series GS-0540

105. Civilian Pay Series GS-0544 1

106. Military Pay Series GS-0545 1

107. Budget Analysis Series GS-0560 1 1 1 1 1 1

108. Budget Technician GS-0561 1

109. National Bank Examiner GS-0570

110. Tax Examiner GS-0592

111. Insurance Accounts Series GS-0593

112. Financial Management Student 

Trainee Series

GS-0599

113. General Health Science Series GS-0601 1

114. Medical Officer Series GS-0602 1 1 1

115. Physician’s Assistant Series GS-0603 1 1

116. Nurse Anesthetist GS-0605

117. Nurse Series GS-0610 1 1

118. Licensed Practical Nurse GS-0620 1

119. Nursing Assistant GS-0621 1

120. Dietitian and Nutritionist Series GS-0630 1

121. Occupational Therapist Series GS-0631 1

122. Physical Therapist Series GS-0633 1

123. Rehabilitation Therapy Assistant 

Series

GS-0636

124. Recreation/Creative Arts 

Therapist Series

GS-0638

1

125. Health Aide and Technician 

Series

GS-0640

1

126. Nuclear Medicine Technician 

Series

GS-0642

1

127. Medical Technologist Series GS-0644 1

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Item Series Title

Series 

Number USDA Comm DOD DOEd DOE HHS HUD DOI DOJ
Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 41 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

1 1

1 1 1 7

1 1

1 1

1 1

1 1 3

1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 16

1 1 3

1 1

1 1

1 1

1 1

1 1 1 1 5

1 1 1 1 7

1 3

1 1

1 1 4

1 2

1 2

1 1 3

1 2

1 2

1 1

1

1

1 2

1 2

Agencies That Identified a Series as Mission Critical

DOL DOS DOT Treas VA AID EPA FEMA GSA NASA NSF NRC OPM SBA SSA

Total

Agencies
Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 42 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

128. Medical Technician Series GS-0645 1

129. Diagnostic Radiologic 

Technologist Series

GS-0647

1

130. Therapeutic Radiologic 

Technologist Series

GS-0648

131. Medical Instrument Technician 

Series

GS-0649

1

132. Respiratory Therapist Series GS-0651 1

133. Pharmacist Series GS-0660 1

134. Pharmacy Technician Series GS-0661 1

135. Optometrist Series GS-0662

136. Speech Pathology and Audiology 

Series

GS-0665

1

137. Podiatrist Series GS-0668 1

138. Medical Records Administration 

Series

GS-0669

1

139. Health System Administration 

Series

GS-0670

1

140. Health System Specialist Series GS-0671 1

141. Prosthetic Representative Series GS-0672

142. Medical Records Technician 

Series

GS-0675

1

143. Medical Clerk Series GS-0679 1

144. Dental Officer Series GS-0680 1 1

145. Dental Assistant Series GS-0681 1

146. Dental Hygiene Series GS-0682 1

147. Dental Laboratory Aide and 

Technician Series

GS-0683

1

148. Public Health Program Specialist 

Series

GS-0685

1

149. Sanitarian Series GS-0688 1

150. Industrial Hygenist GS-0690 1 1 1

151. Consumer Safety Series GS-0696 1 1

152. Veterinary Medical Science 

Series

GS-0701

1

 (Continued From Previous Page)

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Series 

Number USDA Comm DOD DOEd DOE HHS HUD DOI DOJ
Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 43 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

1 2

1 2

1 1

1 2

1

1 2

1

1 1

1 2

1 2

1 2

1

1 2

1 1

1 2

1

1 3

1 2

1 2

1

1

1

1 1 5

2

1

Agencies That Identified a Series as Mission Critical

DOL DOS DOT Treas VA AID EPA FEMA GSA NASA NSF NRC OPM SBA SSA

Total

Agencies
Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 44 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

153. Animal Health Technician Series GS-0704 1

154. General Engineering Series GS-0801 1 1 1 1 1 1

155. Engineering Technician Series GS-0802 1 1 1 1

156. Safety Engineering Series GS-0803 1 1

157. Fire Protection Engineering 

Series

GS-0804

1 1

158. Materials Engineering Series GS-0806 1 1

159. Landscape Architect Series GS-0807 1

160. Architecture Series GS-0808 1 1 1 1

161. Construction Control Series GS-0809 1 1 1

162. Civil Engineering Series GS-0810 1 1 1 1 1

163. Surveying Technician Series GS-0817 1

164. Engineering Drafting Series GS-0818 1

165. Environmental Engineer Series GS-0819 1 1 1

166. Construction Analyst Series GS-0828 1

167. Mechanical Engineering Series GS-0830 1 1 1 1 1 1

168. Nuclear Engineer GS-0840 1 1 1

169. Electrical Engineering Series GS-0850 1 1 1 1 1 1

170. Computer Engineering Series GS-0854 1 1 1 1

171. Electronics Engineering Series GS-0855 1 1 1 1 1 1

172. Electronics Technician Series GS-0856 1 1 1 1

173. Biomedical Engineering Series GS-0858 1 1

174. Aerospace Engineering Series GS-0861 1

175. Naval Architecture Series GS-0871

176. Ship Surveying Series GS-0873

177. Mining Engineering Series GS-0880 1

178. Petroleum Engineer GS-0881 1 1 1

179. Agricultural Engineering Series GS-0890

180. Ceramics Engineering Series GS-0892 1

181. Chemical Engineering Series GS-0893 1 1 1 1

182. Industrial Engineer GS-0896 1 1

 (Continued From Previous Page)

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Item Series Title

Series 

Number USDA Comm DOD DOEd DOE HHS HUD DOI DOJ
Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 45 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 14

1 1 1 1 8

1 1 1 1 6

1 1 1 5

1 1 4

1 2

1 1 1 1 1 9

1 4

1 1 1 1 9

1

1

1 1 1 1 7

1 2

1 1 1 1 10

1 1 5

1 1 1 1 1 11

1 1 6

1 1 1 1 10

1 1 1 1 8

1 3

1 1 3

1 1

1 1

1 2

3

1 1

1 2

1 1 1 1 8

1 1 4

Agencies That Identified a Series as Mission Critical

DOL DOS DOT Treas VA AID EPA FEMA GSA NASA NSF NRC OPM SBA SSA

Total

Agencies
Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 46 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

183. Law Clerk GS-0904

184. General Attorney Series GS-0905 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

185. Hearing Officer GS-0930 1

186. Administrative Law Judge GS-0935 1

187. Paralegal Specialist GS-0950 1 1 1 1 1

188. Pension Law Specialist Series GS-0958

189. Contract Representative GS-0962

190. Legal Instruments Examining 

Series

GS-0963

1 1 1

191. Land Law Examiner GS-0965 1

192. Passport and Visa Examining 

Series

GS-0967

193. Legal Clerical and Assistance GS-0986 1 1 1

194. General Claims Examining Series GS-0990 1

195. Workers’ Compensation Claims 

Examining Series

GS-0991

196. Loss and Damage Claims 

Examining Series

GS-0992

197. Veterans Claims Examining 

Series

GS-0996

198. Claims Clerical Series GS-0998

199. General Arts and Information 

Series

GS-1001

1 1 1

200. Museum Curator GS-1015 1

201. Museum Specialist GS-1016 1

202. Public Affairs Series GS-1035 1 1 1 1 1

203. Language Specialist Series GS-1040 1 1

204. Photography Series GS-1060 1

205. Audiovisual Production Series GS-1071 1 1 1

206. Writing and Editing GS-1082 1 1 1

207. Technical Writer-Editor GS-1083 1 1 1

208. Visual Information Series GS-1084 1 1 1 1

209. Editorial Assistant GS-1087 1 1 1

 (Continued From Previous Page)

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Item Series Title

Series 

Number USDA Comm DOD DOEd DOE HHS HUD DOI DOJ
Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 47 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

1 1 2

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 20

1 2

1 1 3

1 1 1 1 1 1 11

1 1

1 1 1 1 4

1 1 5

1

1 1

1 1 1 6

1 2

1 1

1 1

1 1

1 1 2

3

1

1

1 1 1 1 1 10

1 3

1 2

3

1 1 1 1 7

3

1 5

3

Agencies That Identified a Series as Mission Critical

DOL DOS DOT Treas VA AID EPA FEMA GSA NASA NSF NRC OPM SBA SSA

Total

Agencies
Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 48 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

210. General Business and Industry 

Series

GS-1101

1 1 1 1 1 1 1

211. Contracting Series GS-1102 1 1 1 1 1 1

212. Industrial Property Management 

Series

GS-1103

1

213. Property Disposal Series GS-1104

214. Purchasing Series GS-1105 1 1 1 1

215. Procurement Clerical and 

Technician Series

GS-1106

1 1

216. Property Disposal Clerical and 

Technician Series

GS-1107

217. Public Utilities Specialist Series GS-1130 1 1

218. Trade Specialist GS-1140 1

219. Industrial Specialist Series GS-1150 1 1

220. Production Control Series GS-1152 1 1

221. Financial Analyst GS-1160 1 1

222. Insurance Examining Series GS-1163

223. Loan Specialist Series GS-1165 1 1 1

224. Revenue Officer GS-1169

225. Realty Series GS-1170 1 1 1

226. Appraising Series GS-1171 1

227. Building Management Series GS-1176

228. Patent Attorney Series GS-1222 1 1 1

229. Patent Advisor Series GS-1224 1

230. General Physical Science Series GS-1301 1 1 1 1 1 1

231. Health Physics Series GS-1306 1 1 1 1

232. Physics Series GS-1310 1 1 1 1

233. Physical Science Technician GS-1311 1 1

234. Geophysics Series GS-1313 1 1

235. Hydrology Series GS-1315 1 1

236. Hydrologist Technician GS-1316 1 1

237. Chemistry Series GS-1320 1 1 1 1 1 1

 (Continued From Previous Page)

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Series 

Number USDA Comm DOD DOEd DOE HHS HUD DOI DOJ
Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 49 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 15

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 16

1

1 1 2

1 1 6

1 1 4

1 1

2

1 1 3

2

2

1 1 1 1 6

1 1

1 1 5

1 1

1 1 1 6

1 2

1 1

1 1 5

1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 13

1 1 1 7

1 1 6

1 1 4

1 1 4

1 1 4

1 3

1 1 1 9

Agencies That Identified a Series as Mission Critical

DOL DOS DOT Treas VA AID EPA FEMA GSA NASA NSF NRC OPM SBA SSA

Total

Agencies
Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 50 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

238. Metallurgy Series GS-1321 1 1 1

239. Astronomy and Space Science 

Series

GS-1330

1 1

240. Meteorology Series GS-1340 1

241. Meteorological Technician Series GS-1341 1

242. Geologist GS-1350 1 1 1 1

243. Oceanography Series GS-1360 1 1

244. Navigational Information Series GS-1361

245. Cartographer GS-1370 1 1

246. Cartographer Technician GS-1371 1 1

247. Geodesy Series GS-1372 1

248. Land Surveyor GS-1373 1

249. Geodetic Technician Series GS-1374 1

250. Forest Products Technology 

Series

GS-1380

251. Food Technology Series GS-1382

252. Textile Technology Series GS-1384

253. Photographic Technology Series GS-1386 1

254. Document Analysis Series GS-1397 1

255. Physical Science Student Trainee 

Series

GS-1399

256. Librarian Series GS-1410 1 1

257. Library Technician Series GS-1411 1 1

258. Technical Information Service GS-1412 1 1 1

259. Archives Technician Series GS-1421

260. Actuary Series GS-1510 1

261. Operations Research Series GS-1515 1 1 1

262. Mathematics Series GS-1520 1 1 1

263. Mathematical Statistician GS-1529 1 1 1 1

264. Statistician GS-1530 1 1 1 1

265. Statistical Assistant Series GS-1531 1

266. Cryptanalysis Series GS-1541 1

 (Continued From Previous Page)

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Series 

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Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 51 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

1 4

1 1 4

1 1 3

1 2

1 1 6

1 1 1 5

1 1 2

1 1 4

1 3

1 2

1 2

1 2

1 1

1 1

1 1

1 2

1 1 1 4

1 1

1 3

1 1 4

1 1 5

1 1

1 1 3

1 4

1 4

1 1 1 1 8

1 1 1 1 8

1

1

Agencies That Identified a Series as Mission Critical

DOL DOS DOT Treas VA AID EPA FEMA GSA NASA NSF NRC OPM SBA SSA

Total

Agencies
Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 52 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

267. Computer Science Series GS-1550 1 1 1 1 1

268. General Facilities and Equipment 

Series

GS-1601

1 1

269. Cemetary Administration Series GS-1630

270. Facility Manager/Specialist GS-1640 1 1

271. Printing Management Series GS-1654 1 1 1

272. Steward Series GS-1667 1

273. Equipment Specialist Series GS-1670 1 1 1

274. General Education and Training GS-1701 1 1 1

275. Education and Vocational Training GS-1710 1 1 1

276. Training Instruction Series GS-1712 1 1 1 1

277. Vocational Rehabilitation Series GS-1715

278. Education Program Series GS-1720 1

279. Education Research Series GS-1730 1

280. Education Services Series GS-1740

281. Instructional Systems Series GS-1750

282. General Inspection, Investigation, 

and Compliance Series

GS-1801

1 1 1 1 1

283. Compliance Inspection and 

Support Series

GS-1802

1 1

284. General Investigating Series GS-1810

285. Criminal Investigating Series GS-1811 1 1 1 1 1

286. Game Law Enforcement GS-1812 1 1

287. Immigration Inspection Series GS-1816 1

288. Mine Safety and Health Series GS-1822

289. Aviation Safety Series GS-1825

290. Inspector/Specialist/A&T Tax 

Specialist

GS-1854

291. Import Specialist GS-1889

292. Inspector GS-1890

293. Entry Aid GS-1894

294. Border Patrol Agent Series GS-1896 1

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Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 53 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

1 1 1 8

2

1 1

1 1 4

1 4

1

1 4

1 1 5

1 1 5

1 1 1 1 8

1 1

1

1

1 1

1 1 2

1 1 1 1 9

1 1 1 5

1 1 2

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 15

2

1

1 1

1 1

1 1

1 1

1 1

1 1

1

Agencies That Identified a Series as Mission Critical

DOL DOS DOT Treas VA AID EPA FEMA GSA NASA NSF NRC OPM SBA SSA

Total

Agencies
Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 54 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

295. Customs Aid GS-1897

296. Quality Assurance Series GS-1910 1 1 1

297. General Supply Series GS-2001 1 1 1

298. Supply Program Management GS-2003 1 1 1

299. Supply Clerical and Technician 

Series

GS-2005

1 1

300. Inventory Management Series GS-2010 1 1 1 1 1

301. Distribution Facilities and Storage 

Management Series

GS-2030

1

302. Supply Cataloging Series GS-2050 1

303. Transportation Specialist Series GS-2101 1 1 1

304. Transportation Clerk and 

Assistant Series

GS-2102

1

305. Transportation Industry Analysis 

Series

GS-2110

306. Railroad Safety Series GS-2121

307. Highway Safety Series GS-2125

308. Traffic Management Series GS-2130 1 1 1 1

309. Freight Rate Series GS-2131

310. Transportation Operations Series GS-2150 1 1

311. Air Traffic Control Series GS-2152

312. Marine Cargo Series GS-2161 1

313. Aircraft Operation Series GS-2181 1 1

314. Electronics Mechanic WG-2604 1 1

315. Electronic Industrial Controls 

Mechanic

WG-2606

316. Electronic Equipment Craftsman WG-2619 1

317. Electrician WG-2805 1 1

318. Lineman WG-2806 1

319. Electrician - High Voltage WG-2810 1 1

320. Meter and Relay Craftsman WG-2843 1

321. Electrical Equipment Repairing WG-2854 1

322. Instrument Making WG-3314 1

 (Continued From Previous Page)

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Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 55 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

1 1

1 4

1 1 5

1 1 1 1 7

1 1 1 5

1 6

1 2

1

1 1 5

1 2

1 1

1 1

1 1

1 1 1 7

1 1

1 1 4

1 1

1

1 1 4

2

1 1

1

1 1 4

1

2

1

1 2

1

Agencies That Identified a Series as Mission Critical

DOL DOS DOT Treas VA AID EPA FEMA GSA NASA NSF NRC OPM SBA SSA

Total

Agencies
Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 56 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

323. Machining WG-3414 1

324. Power Saw Operating WG-3422 1

325. Machine Tool Operator WG-3431

326. Linehandler WG-3501

327. Laborer WG-3502 1 1

328. Custodial Working WG-3566 1 1

329. Insulating WG-3610 1

330. Sheet Metal Mechanic WG-3806 1

331. Metal Form Machine Operator WG-3869

332. Audio Visual Equipment Operator WG-3901 1

333. Pipefitting WG-4204 1

334. Plumbing WG-4206 1

335. Glassblowing WG-4370 1

336. Bindery Working WG-4402 1

337. Picture Engraver WG-4446

338. Plate Printer WG-4454

339. Wood Crafting WG-4605 1

340. Carpentry WG-4607 1

341. General Maintenance and 

Operations

WG-4701

1

342. Utility Systems RepairingOperatingWG-4742

1

343. Maintenance Mechanic WG-4749 1 1 1

344. Cemetary Caretaking WG-4754

345. Locksmithing WG-4804 1

346. Navigational Aids Reparing WG-4843

347. Gardening WG-5003 1

348. Animal Caretaking WG-5048 1

349. Planner Estimator WG-5201 1

350. Air Conditioning Equipment 

Mechanic

WG-5306

1

351. Elevator Mechanic WG-5313 1

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Series 

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Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 57 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

1 2

1

1 1

1 1

2

1 1 4

1

1 2

1 1

1

1

1

1

1 2

1 1

1 1

1

1

1

1

1 1 1 6

1 1

1

1 1

1

1

1

1 2

1

Agencies That Identified a Series as Mission Critical

DOL DOS DOT Treas VA AID EPA FEMA GSA NASA NSF NRC OPM SBA SSA

Total

Agencies
Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 58 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

352. Production Machinery Mechanic WG-5350

353. Plant Mechanic WG-5352 1 1

354. Power Plant Operator WG-5407 1

355. Lock and Dam Operating WG-5426

356. Motor Vehicle Operating WG-5703 1 1 1

357. Engineering Equipment Operating WG-5716 1

358. Heavy Mobile Equipment 

Mechanic

WG-5803

1

359. Automotive Mechanic WG-5823 1

360. Tools and Parts Attending WG-6904 1

361. Materials Handler WG-6907 1 1

362. Materials Expediting WG-6910 1

363. Cooking WG-7404 1

364. Food Service Working WG-7408

Agency Totals 10 154 56 11 73 144 49 83 44

 (Continued From Previous Page)

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Series 

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Appendix III

List of 364 Mission Critical Occupations

Page 59 GAO-01-509 Federal Employee Retirements

1 1

1 3

1

1 1

1 1 5

1 2

1

1 2

1

1 1 1 5

1

1

1 1

34 25 113 62 114 54 55 16 33 41 28 6 17 17 14

Agencies That Identified a Series as Mission Critical

DOL DOS DOT Treas VA AID EPA FEMA GSA NASA NSF NRC OPM SBA SSA

Total

Agencies
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