Group represents about 15% of agency's workforce
More than 15,000 employees of the Department of Agriculture have accepted US President Donald Trump's offer of a financial incentive to leave the agency, according to reports.
A total of 15,182 USDA employees signed the government's Deferred Resignation Programme (DRP), Reuters reported, citing a readout from the USDA.
The DRP is the Trump administration's cost-cutting initiative first rolled out in January that offers federal employees the option to be on administrative leave while retaining all employee benefits and being paid through 30 September.
Among the USDA workforce, 3,877 employees signed the agency's first DRP in February, while another 11,305 employees signed for the second round in April, Reuters reported, noting that these numbers could further go up as staff over the age of 40 were given more time to decide.
Areas that saw the highest numbers of signees are:
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the reductions will not impact frontline staff, such as those in the Farm Service Agency.
Rollins also exempted 53 position classifications from the federal hiring freeze as part of the agency's efforts to make its operations more efficient, according to Reuters. Some of the exempted roles are:
The recent reductions in the USDA are part of the Trump administration's widespread effort to slash costs by reducing the federal headcount.
According to a separate Reuters report in April, over 260,000 employees have been fired, taken early retirement, or have accepted buyouts under the administration's initiative.
