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Appendix F:
Progress in Downsizing the Federal
Government

In January 1996, the Clinton Administration reported that the count in the number of civilian executive branch federal employees excluding employees of the independent Postal Service had been reduced by almost 240,000 since the Administration took office in January 1993.(1) This is the smallest federal workforce in 30 years (see Table F-1).

A variety of mechanisms have been used to accomplish this, thereby keeping the use of involuntary terminations to a minimum. In fact, of the 239,286 person reduction, only 20,702 have been involuntarily separated. Most of the reductions were in three categories: administrative staff (44 percent); blue collar staff (33 percent); and engineers, scientists, or medical personnel (22 percent).

Major Trends in Staff Reductions

Thirteen of the 14 executive branch departments have reduced their employee count since President Clinton took office in January 1993. The exception is the Department of Justice, which is hiring additional law enforcement employees. Six cabinet agencies have had reductions of 10 percent or more. Other major agencies have experienced relatively large cuts in percentage terms; for example, the Office of Personnel Management had reduced its staff by 38 percent, as of January 1996 (see Table F-2).

Defense civilians comprised 154,000, or 64 percent, of the reductions. To put this figure in context, note that Defense civilians accounted for 43.2 percent of the executive branch workforce in January 1993 and 41.7 percent in January 1996. Note too that the scale of the Defense Department is enormous compared to civilian agencies. For example:

Defense employment is decreasing primarily because of the end of the Cold War; however, a large number of positions are also being eliminated through reinvention initiatives. The civilian Defense cuts are being driven by budgetary necessity, but the proposed reengineering efforts of the National Performance Review (NPR) have enabled the Defense Department to downsize without impairing readiness or service delivery. Of the 110,100 positions that Defense eliminated in fiscal years 1994 and 1995, over 12,000 were in occupational areas targeted specifically by NPR for reduction:

Staff Reductions
Based on Doing Things Better With Less

Thousands of positions on the civilian side of the government have been eliminated because of reinvention's new ways of doing things better with less:

Federal Employment

Table F-1. Executive Branch Employment January 1965 January 1996 (excludes U.S. Postal Service)

Employment
Total Defense Non-Defense
19651,857,958 1,016,967 840,991
1966 1,917,888 1,063,005 854,883
1967 2,137,148 1,246,345 890,803
1968 2,190,618 1,267,152 923,466
1969 2,227,583 1,315,260 912,323
1970 2,165,642 1,251,982 913,660
1971 2,095,532 1,149,802 945,730
1972 2,105,708 1,126,301 979,407
1973 2,087,984 1,080,747 1,007,237
1974 2,052,268 1,034,180 1,018,088
1975 2,103,387 1,038,071 1,065,316
1976 2,128,006 1,023,255 1,104,751
1977 2,119,037 993,516 1,125,521
1978 2,138,374 982,198 1,156,176
1979 2,150,696 971,968 1,178,728
1980 2,173,917 963,598 1,210,319
1981 2,187,373 972,990 1,214,383
1982 2,128,336 1,008,366 1,119,970
1983 2,133,432 1,023,776 1,109,656
1984 2,153,005 1,041,586 1,111,419
1985 2,181,624 1,065,119 1,116,505
1986 2,208,577 1,094,743 1,113,834
1987 2,171,716 1,070,435 1,101,281
1988 2,216,059 1,081,659 1,134,400
19892,205,165 1,058,198 1,146,967
1990 2,241,361 1,070,529 1,170,832
1991 2,193,358 1,014,212 1,179,146
1992 2,221,483 1,006,003 1,215,480
1993 2,188,647 966,087 1,222,560
1994 2,113,645 905,167 1,208,478
1995 2,028,022 859,598 1,168,424
1996 1,949,366 812,323 1,137,043
Source: Office of Personnel Management, Monthly Report of Federal Civilian Employment (SF 113-A).

Table F-2.Changes in Federal Civilian Employment, by Major Agency, January 1993 January 1996

Civilian Employees
Department or Agency Jan 93Jan 96 Change Percent Change
Agriculture 113,687 98,733 -14,954 -13.2%
Commerce 37,608 35,497 -2,111 -5.6
Defense (civilian) 966,087 812,923 -153,164 -15.9
Education 4,995 4,795 -200 -4.0
Energy 20,706 18,983 - 1,723 -8.3
Environmental Protection Agency 18,351 17,476 -875 -4.8
Federal Emergency Management Agency 4,554 3,853 -701 -15.4
General Services Administration 20,690 15,851 -4,839 -23.4
Health and Human Services 131,066 123,807 -7,259 -5.5
Housing and Urban Development 13,292 11,575 -1,717 -12.9
Interior 77,313 67,913 -9,400 -12.2
Justice 97,652 104,244 6,592 6.8
Labor 17,719 15,722 -1,997 -11.3
National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration 25,191 21,396 -3,795 -15.1
National Science Foundation 1,270 1,269 1 0.1
Office of Personnel Management 6,861 4,245 -2,616 -38.1
Small Business Administration 5,768 4,827 -941 -16.3
State 25,982 24,538 -1,444 -5.6
Transportation 70,086 62,782 -7,304 -10.4
Treasury 165,904 154,920 -10,984 -6.6
United States Agency for International Development 4,218 3,484 738 -17.4
U.S. Information Agency 8,283 7,280 -1,003 -12.1
Veterans Affairs 260,349 258,275 -2,074 -0.8
Subtotal 2,097,631 1,874,389 -223,242 -10.6%
All Other Agencies 91,216 74,945 -16,241 -17.8%
Total 2,188,847 1,949,364 -239,483 - 10.9%
Source: Office of Personnel Management, Monthly Report of Federal Civilian Employment (Form SF 113-A).


(1)This appendix is based on the monthly head count of federal employees compiled by the Office of Personnel Management. This measure counts part-time, full-time, and seasonal employees employed on the last day of each month. An alternative count of the federal employment is also used, called "full-time equivalent" (FTE). An FTE is equal to one work year, or 2,080 non-overtime hours. This number is normally calculated at the end of each fiscal year. A special estimate was calculated in January 1993 that serves as a baseline used by the Clinton Administration to measure its progress in reducing the size of the federal workforce. Between this baseline and September 30, 1995, about 185,000 FTEs have been cut from the executive branch agencies. In the President's fiscal year 1997 budget, the Office of Management and Budget estimates that the number of FTEs will have been cut by 214,400 by September 30, 1996.

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