{"id":26378,"date":"2023-05-12T13:56:15","date_gmt":"2023-05-12T13:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/05\/12\/opms-retirement-backlog-worsens-to-start-2023s-peak-intake-season\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:09:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:09:49","slug":"opms-retirement-backlog-worsens-to-start-2023s-peak-intake-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/fedlife\/retirement\/2023\/05\/12\/opms-retirement-backlog-worsens-to-start-2023s-peak-intake-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal retirement processing speeds quicken, backlog being addressed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Office of Personnel Management is processing retirement claims by federal workers at a record clip after a wave of government employee departures last year and understaffing caused a massive backlog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The federal government\u2019s HR department processed more claims than it received last month and shaved 11% off its inventory from March to April. There\u2019s still a ways to go as the backlog remains about 7,000 cases above the goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the third straight month of record-fast processing times, a pace that had not been achieved in at least two years, according to the data. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After several months that showed steady improvements in reducing the backlog, a wave of 12,000 new claims were filed in January, indicative of the peak retirement season OPM usually encounters each year. Unlike past years, OPM seemed ready this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The office\u2019s ability to maintain operations from February onward is telling, considering a report by the Government Accountability Office said OPM receives a surge of applications starting in mid-January and continuing into the spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are more than $83 billion worth of annual annuity payments made to nearly 2.7 million federal beneficiaries. Agency HR and payroll offices create retirement application packages, which are then sent to OPM for processing.<\/p>\n\n\n\t