Federal recruitment, retention, relocation bonuses rose 22% in 2009

[The Northerner]

One of the potential drawbacks of the federal budget crunch? It might mean agencies won’t be able to pay as much money to woo or keep highly skilled workers in the coming years.

But before the budget battles began, federal agencies paid out more than $349 million in recruitment, relocation and retention bonuses in 2009, according to a new report by the Office of Personnel Management. That’s a 22 percent jump from the previous year.

Overall, 45 agencies made 43,250 total “3R” payments — up 9 percent from 2008. Total payments averaged $8,079, OPM said.

Another 51 agencies said budget cuts mean they can no longer use incentive payments to keep workers or recruit new ones. Most notably, the Commerce Department cut its payments by 52 percent as it reduced the number of bonuses paid to patent examiners with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The office has faced stiff budget cuts and is hiring fewer people than expected, the report said.

The government's two largest departments, Defense and Veterans Affairs, made the most incentive payments. The Pentagon doled out 21,910 payments, while VA awarded 8,885 in 2009.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/post/federal-recruitment-retention-relocation-bonuses-jump-again/2011/08/29/gIQAjb0toJ_blog.html#pagebreak