Govt Printing Office Plans Buyouts for 330 Workers

The Government Printing Office, facing a declining need for its services, is developing plans to offer buyouts to some 300 employees this fall. The GPO must seek permission from Congress and the Office of Personnel Management to make the offer, The Washington Post reports.

The GPO plans to offer workers up to $25,000 to leave and hopes to pare its 2,200 workforce by about 15 percent.

The office is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year while the digital world has reduced the need for its services printing books, manuals, and budgets.

GPO’s Bill Boarman said: “GPO is open for business. We are an agency with a dedicated workforce that will continue to re-engineer itself in the 21st century to serve as the digital information platform for the federal government.”

The GPO would join a number of agencies seeking to use buyouts to cut staff including the Agriculture Department and the Smithsonian.

Agriculture’s buyouts are directed at 500 employees working on conservation projects and the U.S. Postal Service is offering $20,000 to administrative staff with a goal of cutting 7,500 positions, according to the Post.