ML21095A071
| ML21095A071 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 04/06/2021 |
| From: | Lamary M Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer |
| To: | Jeff Baran, Annie Caputo, Christopher Hanson, David Wright NRC/Chairman, NRC/OCM |
| Cain B/OCHCO | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML21095A066 | List: |
| References | |
| SRM-M201021A-1-OCHCO | |
| Download: ML21095A071 (5) | |
Text
April 6, 2021 MEMORANDUM TO: Chairman Hanson Commissioner Baran Commissioner Caputo Commissioner Wright Digitally signed by Mary A.
FROM: Mary A. Lamary Mary A. Lamary Date: 2021.04.06 12:20:12 -04'00' Lamary Chief Human Capital Officer
SUBJECT:
STUDY OF RETIREMENT ELIGIBLES (STAFF REQUIREMENTS MEMORANDUM M201021A)
In Staff Requirements Memorandum M201021A, the Staff was directed to reassess and execute a study of the percent of retirement eligibles who actually did retire in a given year as well as attrition by age group.
The Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer conducted studies of two aspects of attrition separately:
(1) general attrition by age group, and (2) retirements. Data for fiscal years (FY) 2016 through 2020 and the first 5 months of 2021 were examined. Attrition rates are calculated by dividing the number of losses during the period by the average of the on-board count at the beginning and end of the period.
Rates were calculated relative to each population to allow subgroups to be compared directly.
Attrition Rates by Age Group Total attrition rates by age group from 2017 to 2021 show generally low attrition, except among staff aged 60 and over. This is consistent with overall agency attrition rates, and the fact that retirements make up more than half of all losses. Higher than average attrition rates occurred among staff 50 and older in 2016 because the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) was granted Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) by the Office of Personal Management that year. VERA allows certain groups of employees who have met the years of service requirement, but not yet attained minimum retirement age, to retire early. FY 2021 results are consistent with prior year-to-date results.
CONTACT: Brendan Cain, HCAB/OCHCO Brendan.Cain@nrc.gov
Attrition Rates by FY Age Group Age Group 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
<30 4.3% 2.5% 7.7% 9.1% 4.9% 2.7%
30-39 5.9% 5.6% 4.7% 3.5% 5.5% 1.1%
40-49 6.4% 3.5% 2.9% 3.4% 3.3% 1.1%
50-59 8.1% 4.7% 3.1% 4.8% 3.9% 1.6%
60+ 23.5% 16.9% 14.8% 16.3% 15.0% 7.6%
Total Attrition Rates by Age Group 25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
<30 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Non-retirement attrition shows relatively flat low rates among age groups 30 and above.
Voluntary Non-Retirement Attrition Rates by FY Age Group Age Group 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
<30 4.3% 2.5% 7.7% 9.1% 4.9% 0.0%
30-39 5.9% 5.5% 4.6% 3.5% 5.1% 0.9%
40-49 5.6% 3.4% 2.4% 3.1% 3.3% 0.8%
50-59 2.1% 1.5% 1.1% 1.7% 1.6% 0.8%
60+ 0.3% 1.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3%
Voluntary Non-Retirement Rates by Age Group 10%
5%
0%
<30 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2
Rates among technical staff in engineering and scientific occupations show more variability among age groups.
Voluntary Non-Retirement Attrition Rates by FY Age Group Technical Staff Age Group 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
<30 3.9% 2.1% 3.1% 4.4% 2.0% 0.0%
30-39 5.5% 5.3% 3.2% 3.1% 4.9% 0.3%
40-49 4.3% 2.3% 1.8% 2.0% 3.8% 0.8%
50-59 1.6% 1.1% 0.8% 1.0% 0.9% 0.5%
60+ 0.2% 1.0% 0.0% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3%
Voluntary Non-Retirement Rates - Tech Staff 10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
<30 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Retirement Eligibles In addition to examining data regarding attrition by age group, staff was requested to examine the rates at which retirement eligible employees actually retire in a given year. There is a perception that the NRC will experience a significant wave of retirements because of our aging workforce. While the percentage of employees who will be eligible for retirement in the next 5 years has grown as the agency has reduced overall staffing levels, the number of those on board who are eligible for retirement has remained steady over the last few years. Further, over the last 4 years, the percentage of those eligible who actually retire in a given FY remains in the 13%-16% range. However, no discernable pattern or trend was observed in how long staff tend to wait until retiring. The outlier in the table and chart below, 2016, is due to the use of the VERA that year. As noted above, FY 2021 numbers are year to date (five months) but are consistent with prior years for this point in the FY and are expected to be consistent with the previous 2 years at the end of the FY.
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Retirement Rate by Fiscal Year Fiscal Year Retirements Eligibles Retirement_Rate 2016 228 847 26.9%
2017 130 817 15.9%
2018 106 826 12.8%
2019 125 820 15.2%
2020 116 826 14.0%
2021 55 824 6.7%
Percent of All Eligibles who Retire by FY 30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Comparison of general trends to those for employees in engineering and scientific occupations yield nearly identical results.
Retirement Rate by Fiscal Year Technical Staff Fiscal Year Retirements Eligibles Retirement_Rate 2016 115 519 22.2%
2017 68 498 13.7%
2018 66 499 13.2%
2019 73 480 15.2%
2020 60 469 12.8%
2021 28 468 6.0%
Percent of Tech Eligibles who Retire by FY 30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 4
Examination of retirements, retirement eligibles, and attrition by age group has reaffirmed the results found in previous studies. Voluntary non-retirement attrition remains low and more common to lower age groups. Relatively stable resignation/transfer rates among all but the lowest age group and a steady rate of retirements reflect the agencys commitment to remaining among the best places to work in the Federal government, and bode well for retaining a highly skilled workforce that has the capacity to pass on its experience and knowledge to the developing nuclear professionals.
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