Following a recent trend in federal agencies firing thousands of employees, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has called on employees to quit or resign. The SEC has attached a $50,000 incentive to employees to what financial regulators call the “voluntary early retirement” program.
The Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have focused their efforts on making the government’s workforce significantly slimmer and saving government money in several areas.
The massive layoffs and federal acquisition programs are the result of previous efforts. More recently, the SEC has provided long-term employees with the opportunity to resign or retire from a $50,000 prize.

A photo of Elon Musk waving a chainsaw that Argentine President Javier Miley gave him at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Source: Elon Musk (X/Twitter)
SEC goes on a voluntary early retirement route
According to an internal memo from SEC Chief Operating Officer Ken Johnson, the voluntary early retirement programme is open to permanent staff who participated in government payroll prior to January 24, 2025.
Eligible employees for the offer must make a decision by March 21, 2025 and make it separately from the agency by April 4, 2025. The program allows these employees to resign, be transferred to another agency or immediately retire.
The memo also stated by employees accepting it. Incentives And returning to the SEC within five years is obligated to fully repay the incentive.
The Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to reduce the federal workforce have already eliminated more than 100,000 civilian jobs, and their momentum does not appear to have slowed. In February, the White House directed federal agencies to submit plans for “.Massive reductionBy March 13th. The White House memo provided no specific role for the termination, but is said to start with workers deemed non-critical during government shutdowns.
The memo, which promoted plans to save money, directed federal agencies to submit a proposal to move their offices from Washington to “cost-free areas.”
The immediate costs of the SEC acquisition offer are expected to be offset by eliminating additional costs for employees accepting the offer.
Additionally, the SEC has directed all staff, including union workers, to return to the office from April 14, 2025. The instructions follow orders from the president requesting employees to work. Direct. The order comes as no surprise, as Donald Trump ordered the head of the department and agency to “take all necessary steps to take all necessary steps to end the remote work arrangement.”
The agency’s union agreement allows remote work, so instructions are met with pushbacks from employees. The order temporarily excludes only employees who already have full-time remote arrangements or whose home is more than 50 miles from the SEC office.
Labor acquisition
The SEC buyout programme is consistent with the Trump administration’s aim of significantly reducing the government’s workforce. This is one of many other institutions that offer workers an incentive to voluntarily letting out their roles.

Black and white photos of President Donald Trump, Doge Head and Tesla CEO Elon Musk sit side by side. Source: Elon Musk (X/Twitter)
There is an average of 62,000 federal workers I retired every year Data provided by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) shows that over the past decade, the number is expected to rise sharply due to the strategies of President Doge and Trump.
The Department of Education provided employees with $25,000 incentives to voluntarily resign or resign. It was framed as a voluntary program, announcement The incentive also poses a threat of “a significant reduction in power for the U.S. Department of Education” following the application deadline.
The White House also provided it to all 2.3 million federal employees, including the Department of Defense’s 783k civilians. Buy out It deserves approximately 8 months of salary and benefits. The offer was reported to be aimed at employees who refused to comply with President Trump’s requests for all workers.
Emails providing incentives were surrounded as an easy way for the administration to effectively complete remote work for most federal workforce. Still, it also poses a “majority” of agencies looking at power cuts after the offer expires.
The US Postal Service recently provided early retirement incentives of up to $15,000 to postal handlers and other support staff, citing operational changes as the reason for the move.
“US Postal Services continue to transform its business model and build organizations configured for success. As a result of capital investments in state-of-the-art postal processing equipment and changes to the network, USPS spokesmen need to reduce staffing in facilities where staffing is overstaffed as they continue to provide fast, reliable and efficient services. I said.
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