The Interior Department is inching closer to a new round of layoffs, this week instructing staffers agencywide to update resumes as it prepares so-called retention rosters ranking employees based on factors such as tenure and performance ratings.
As part of this process, Interior sent out an “employee data report” to each staffer listing their pay grades and job titles, and directed every employee to review the reports for “any discrepancies,” “make corrections on the form” and submit them to human resources officials, along with an updated resume, by next Tuesday, according to documents reviewed by POLITICO’s E&E News.
The data report reveals that employees will eventually be assigned a “competitive level code” as part of a complicated process associated with the large-scale workforce reductions expected at Interior. That information will be used to determine which staffers in areas designated for reductions in force, or RIFs, have the lowest standing and could be cut.
The looming RIF for the Interior Department and its bureaus is expected to begin as early as May 4, according to three people familiar with the internal discussions among staffers who were granted anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly.
