GPO to Offer Employees Buyouts/Early Outs

Yesterday, an announcement was made that the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) is requesting to Congress and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) authority to offer buyouts and early outs to the agency’s 2,200 employees. GPO’s goal is to achieve a personnel reduction of 15% (or 330 positions), including a reduction in management and supervisory levels of 25%.

This move is in response to overall Government cutbacks and projected reductions in appropriated funding. GPO management believes these reductions in personnel can be achieved without compromising the agency’s ability to carry out mission critical operations.

“GPO has restructured and reinvented itself numerous times throughout the last 150 years to carry out the critical mission of meeting the dissemination and information needs of the U.S. Congress and Federal agencies,” said Public Printer Bill Boarman. “These challenging economic times have no boundaries and are forcing many Federal agencies to seek ways to survive. GPO is open for business. We are an agency with a dedicated workforce that will continue to reengineer itself in the 21st century to serve as the digital information platform for the Federal Government.”

As part of the restructuring effort, Superintendent of Documents Mary Alice Baish is committed to ensuring that essential services of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) are not compromised, but noted that some services may need to be restructured or re-evaluated given overall Government cutbacks. We will keep the library community informed on any impacts to the Program.