Around 317,000 federal employees left government service this year, and 68,000 joined, according to a recent blog post by Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Scott Kupor. This exceeds the number Kupor expected (300,000) by the end of 2025.

“President Trump recently issued an executive order directing executive agency heads to submit annual headcount plans to OPM and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).” Kupor wrote. “This is an important step in ensuring the government is working on behalf of the American people, focused on the most important objectives with maximum efficiency.”

His memo lists six goals for the annual headcount plans, which are due by December 14. The goals include making sure the government “has the right talent focused on the key priorities of the administration and that we are eliminating wasteful taxpayer expenses in areas that are inefficient, no longer required, or in direct contradiction of administration priorities,” utilizing the expertise of contractors in the right ways, asking the right questions of hiring managers, building bottom-up staffing plans, using a formal assessment of qualifications, and improving performance management.

The memo also lists three items that are “out of scope” for the plans:

1.  There are no prescribed reductions in headcount.
2.  Agencies have the flexibility to substitute FTEs for contractors to deliver better service at a lower cost.
3. Agencies will not need to return to OPM to “ask for permission on investments” following the process.