Air Force set to eliminate hundreds of civilian jobs amid budget cuts

Pentagon budget cuts are biting into the Air Force’s budget, prompting the USAF to cut approximately 1,000 civilian jobs over the next several months, the USAF said recently.

To do that, the USAF will be using federal reduction in force (RIF) authorities, which are intended to move as many of those civilian employees into other positions as possible as these 1,000 jobs are eliminated.

The RIF authorities will help the Air Force move some of those civilian employees at the same pay and grade. Lt. Gen. Gina Grosso, the USAF’s deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel and services, said the USAF has spent recent months looking for any alternatives to job cuts

“Voluntary efforts to balance the civilian workforce since fiscal year 2014 have moved us significantly closer to our target manning levels,” Grosso said. “We have reduced the number of affected employees through several rounds of voluntary separation and retirement programs, as well as reassignments to vacant positions.”

Still, the Air Force has to move forward with cuts in coming months.

“Although we have made great strides, we still have a number of affected employees to place into funded vacancies, and RIF authorities will enable us to achieve that goal,”  Debra Warner, director of civilian force management policy, said. “The Air Force recognizes and strives to balance the invaluable contributions of our civilian workforce with the fiscal realities under which the DOD and the government as a whole are operating.”