{"id":26177,"date":"2023-07-25T21:01:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-25T21:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/07\/25\/senior-executive-service-separations-surge-to-near-record-high\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:08:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:08:19","slug":"senior-executive-service-separations-surge-to-near-record-high","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/fedlife\/career\/2023\/07\/25\/senior-executive-service-separations-surge-to-near-record-high\/","title":{"rendered":"Senior Executive Service separations surge to near-record high"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Data on the federal government\u2019s top managerial class<\/a> shows that separations are at a 20-year high while outside hires have stagnated over the last three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 900 employees in the Senior Executive Service took the off-ramp in 2022, up from 813 in 2021 and nearly matching the all-time of high of 906 set in 2018, before the start of the pandemic. Some 177 new hires were brought on from outside of government last year, little changed from 2021, according to the Partnership for Public Service<\/a>, a nonpartisan, good-government organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That figure doesn\u2019t include employees who rose to the SES within their own agency, but the spike in separations does show where the workforce may need to focus manpower and hiring to replace potential losses of institutional knowledge and leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe noticeable dips in separations in fiscal 2009 and fiscal 2020 are likely due to the uncertainties of the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic during those years,\u201d according to the report. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Career SES new hires peaked at 245 in fiscal 2011. (Graph by the Partnership for Public Service \/ FedScope data.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Most of the separations are due to retirements \u2014 about 65% to 75% to be exact. The rest are quits and transfers to other agencies, and very few separations are caused by other factors, like poor performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This data offers a glimpse at what is driving attrition of this leadership cadre and where the Biden administration\u2019s sweeping plans for workforce diversity and retention might focus efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\t