Government Job Buyout Offers

Despite my advanced age (almost 69 years), during much of which I have paid at least some attention to politics and government policy, I continue to be baffled by how differently government workers and “private sector” workers view their jobs.

A recent befuddlement is the objection by the (national) government workers to even the offer of a “buyout” incentive to quit in anticipation of possible layoffs to reduce the size of the government workforce.

Befuddled because employee buyout offers are common in private industry, especially when the employer seeks to reduce the size of its workforce. Yet the government workers seem offended by even the offer to an employee buyout as a tool to reduce workforce size.

In my career, I worked for three different large companies. In each I saw that it was common (though not universal) to offer employees “buyouts” (sometimes broadly offered, sometimes targeted to specific groups of employees) before an anticipated layoff. It always made sense to me to seek volunteers before conducting involuntary job eliminations. Just as airlines do with an overbooked flight, offer incentives to get volunteers to give up their seats on the flight before the airline starts bumping passengers involuntarily. Sometimes volunteers make an involuntary layoff unnecessary.

One coworker managed a very advantageous deal when our employer made a buyout offer. My coworker had already lined up a new position at a different company to improve his professional development when the buyout offer was made. So he was able to snag a very generous buyout AND get the new job he wanted anyway.

In other words, pre-layoff buyout offers are pretty standard fare in industry. Employees grow accustomed to evaluating them. “What is the probability I will lose my job in the [potential] coming layoff?” “What payout am I likely to receive if I am laid off in the coming layoff?” “How quickly do I think I could find a new job that I like?” “Is this my chance to do something completely different?”

I was laid off twice during my career. In neither case was my layoff preceded by a buyout offer. Even if I had received a buyout offer, I would likely not have taken it. I liked my job, and (incorrectly, as it turned out) considered it unlikely I would be among the laid off. Nonetheless, I, along with other employees, (mostly) understand that periodic adjustments to workforce levels are necessary. Being laid off is always a potential for people who work in the real world.

Yet government workers don’t seem to grasp this concept. Too many seem to think that we taxpayers have an obligation to continue to employ them for the rest of their lives, regardless of whether they can prove their worth. I know the conventional answer is that government workers see their jobs as something to which they are entitled regardless of what the people who pay their salaries (taxpayers) think is worthwhile.

It’s almost enough to lead one to advocate to “fire them all and make them justify being provided an opportunity to be re-hired." Maybe it’s time for government employees to understand the realities that the rest of us live with every day.

Pre-layoff buyouts are pretty standard for the rest of us.