There are certain benefits that come with federal employment. Federal workers receive holiday pay and other forms of paid leave. Depending on the type of career professionals pursue, they may have relatively competitive job security. Additionally, they may be eligible for valuable retirement benefits if they work for long enough.
Federal retirement benefits can help cover basic cost-of-living expenses after professionals cease working full-time later in life. Recently, there has been a significant uptick in the number of federal employees seeking retirement. That change in demand levels could mean a longer wait time for those hoping to retire.
Many workers recently requested retirement
With every new year and each new administration, many workers leave their jobs, while others may seek out employment. 2025 started off strong with a surge of retirement applications. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) reviews retirement claims and approves them when appropriate. The OPM attempts to process every application for retirement within 60 days, but a drastic increase in requests can extend the necessary processing time.
The agency ended 2024 with a backlog of 13,876 pending claims. That number surged to 23,277 by the end of January. The OPM received a staggering 16,101 new retirement claims in January alone, and workers were able to review and process roughly 6,700. This means that there may be a slight increase in how long it takes for workers waiting for retirement to hear back.
Other years have seen even more drastic surges in retirement. For example, in January 2020, there were 17,134 retirement claims submitted and 10,059 processed. Going back even further, there were 22,187 retirement claims submitted in January 2013.
It is worth noting that the turnaround time in January for the applications that OPM processed was 64 days on average, which is less than one work week beyond the ideal 60-day window. Many professionals applying for retirement this year or in the immediate future can expect a relatively timely response despite the overall uptick in applications. The OPM has overcome more significant surges and larger application backlogs in the past.
Federal employees worried about pushback or controversy related to retirement benefits or facing an unfair denial may need help asserting themselves and obtaining the benefits that they deserve after years or potentially decades of federal employment. Having the right assistance can make it much easier for professionals to obtain the benefits that they have earned through their employment.