Agriculture Offers Another Round of Buyouts

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is again offering buyouts and early outs - this time to nearly 2,000 employees in its Rural Development division.

Citing the department's budget crunch, Undersecretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager sent agency administrators and state directors a memorandum announcing Rural Development will offer 1,966 buyouts. The buyouts can be used in conjunction with early retirements, which will be available to all eligible employees, the memo stated.

"As Secretary Vilsack has indicated, the fiscal situation for fiscal year 2012 and beyond has necessitated a serious re-examination of priorities," Tonsager wrote. "This has resulted in the determination that many agencies will operate as restructured and leaner organizations."

Engineers, information technology specialists and supervisory information technology specialists are exempt because their jobs have been deemed critical to USDA's mission and difficult to fill.

USDA offered 544 buyouts and unlimited early outs in May. It is one of many federal agencies giving employees incentives to leave voluntarily in the face of increasingly tight budgets.

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