During this period of transition, RS is still receiving many new retirement claims on paper. January is normally the busiest month for OPM in terms of incoming retirement claims, so it will be interesting to see how December fares. The total outstanding inventory of retirement claims has been high and grew even higher last month, going from 34,587 at the end of October to 48,396 at the end of November, a 40% increase. The digital processing time is also markedly better than the total average processing time.
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While the backlog continues to grow, Retirement Services (RS) processed 4,363 of the digital claims received and 4,344 of the paper applications. The average time to process digital applications was 38 days in comparison to 94 days for paper applications. OPM’s Retirement Services recently conducted an analysis on the most common errors in submitted retirement applications from federal employees. The backlog of processing retirement applications at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has been a challenge for the agency for many years.
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Effective July 15, 2025, OPM would facilitate applications through OPM’s Online Retirement Application (ORA) and no longer accept paper submissions.\u00a0 Tom Hanks, playing Jim Lovell in Apollo 13, used this\u00a0modified version of the astronaut’s famous quote, \»Houston, we have a problem!\» I wonder if these words have been spoken at the Office of Personnel Management’s Retirement Operations Center in Boyers, Pa., where an astounding 43,737 applications arrived by mail, FedEx or electronic ORA system from federal agencies across the country and around the world during October and November. As 2025 is winding down and many federal employees are in the transition period between federal employment and retirement. During the processing time at OPM, retirees receive interim payments of a rough estimate of their benefits due, although time is required to begin them, as well. Also, the average processing time figures at OPM do not reflect that in some cases the wait for new retirees can be much longer.
- Over the course of your federal career, you’re likely to build a healthy balance in your Thrift Savings Plan.
- The federal government employs a unique system for calculating work hours and unused sick leave.
- For example, if your case involves a court order, special computation, workers’ compensation, missing documentation, or is a deferred or postponed application it may take longer to process.
- Federal employees nearing retirement are encouraged to review the data below in order to lessen the possible delay in receiving their benefits after the application is submitted.
- A May 7, 2025, memo from then-Acting Director of OPM Charles Ezell declared that effective June 2, 2025, all new retirement applications started on that date or later, along with any supporting documents, must be submitted electronically.
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While the digital processing times were still over a month, the pace has picked up considerably, having been reduced by nearly 16% in just one month. The figures indicate that the shift towards digital retirement claims is happening pretty quickly thus far. With the release of the November retirement figures, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has begun publishing new data which show a breakout of the digital retirement claims that are now coming in a result of the new Online Retirement Application (ORA) that launched over the summer. The Retirement Quick Guide can also provide you with information about the overall retirement application process when you retire from Federal service.
Retirement Processing Times
Separately, there always is a surge of retirements around the turn of the year for reasons including maximizing payments for unused annual leave; those applications typically are mostly reflected in data covering applications received by OPM in January and February. Before reaching OPM, applications pass through agency personnel and payroll office review, lasting from as little as about a week to a month or more. The monthly numbers reflect applications received by OPM, not those who retired in that month. The 7,800 that came through the portal was up from about 6,200 in October and the average processing time for them was 38 days, compared with 45 in October.
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This gives us confidence as we prepare for retirement activities in 2025 and into 2026.” “Despite record high retirement volumes this year, ORA is performing well. OPM officials however say they are working as fast as they can, and say digital is helping.
Find our current processing times for the retirement and survivor benefit types listed below. OPM Director Scott Kupor posted on X that those employees left on their own volition and “received severance of up to 8 months as a result of new programs that the government put in place to help ease the transition.” Digital processing times were much faster, averaging 38 days in November. In November, just 7,833 of the nearly 24,000 total claims received were submitted digitally via its Online Retirement Application (ORA).
- “I’m pretty happy that worked out, but getting there really required several months of working with my HR specialist,” said one now-retired employee with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
- Currently, the backlog stands at 13,835 digital applications and 34,561 paper versions for a total inventory of 48,396 federal retirement applications awaiting processing.
- The coroner is still attempting to pinpoint a time of death, but prosecutors believe two were killed sometime early Sunday morning.
- If there is some reprieve in the incoming claims and OPM can get some of the backlog reduced, particularly if the pace of processing digital applications continues to increase, that will certainly help to manage what could be an even busier January than usual.
The Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the size of the federal workforce are really starting to show up in the OPM retirement backlog which grew by a total of 13,809 new retirement claims in November. The processing times are averages, which means your application may take more or less time depending on your individual circumstances. Of the 23,393 claims received in November, roughly ⅓ or 7,833 were digital, and 15,560 were paper.
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He has over 20 years of combined experience in media beaxy review and government services, having worked at two government contracting firms and an online news and web development company prior to his current role at FedSmith. It topped 60,000 that year, so while it is not at an all time high, it is still a standout to be sure. It processed 1,686 and 4,363 of those and did so in 45 and 38 days, respectively.
OPM shifts retirement applications fully online In comparison, in the same two months of 2024, OPM received only 13,680 applications for processing. Retirement Services (RS) is working towards a fully digital retirement application process; RS is working with agencies and payroll offices to update legacy processes. The sharp increase in incoming retirement claims over the last few months has pushed the total OPM retirement backlog to a level not seen since 2012.
Are you in favor of an additional Christmas holiday for federal employees this year? The latest unaltered retirement processing statistics from OPM are included below. The total claims backlog saw a 46.9% increase over the end of September. The number of digital claims processed more than doubled from October to November. Most of the figures in the table below are from OPM’s latest retirement processing statistics from November 2025. Legacy systems, with outdated technology and cumbersome procedures, have delayed retirements and frustrated employees who have dedicated their careers to public service.
OPM’s statistics indicate that about 26% of all retirement applications come in the first six weeks of the year. OPM experiences its largest surges in retirement applications in January and February each year. The monthly average processing time for August decreased to 64 days, down from 74 days a year ago. For those and all future applications, any newly created paper retirement packages would not be accepted and would be sent back to the agency for digital resubmission. A May 7, 2025, memo from then-Acting Director of OPM Charles Ezell declared that effective June 2, 2025, all new retirement applications started on that date or later, along with any supporting documents, must be submitted electronically.
“I’m pretty happy that worked out, but getting there really required several months of working with my HR specialist,” said one now-retired employee with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). So happy holidays everyone. In some cases, retirements that otherwise would have been part of that surge may already have occurred due to retirements at the end of deferred resignation periods.
Digital retirement claims are quickly becoming part of the process. Processing days reflect the cases processed in the month of November 2025. From in-depth analyses to practical tips, DailyFed empowers you to make well-informed decisions about your career, benefits, and retirement planning, keeping you connected and confident every step of the way. DailyFed is your premier daily resource dedicated to federal employees, delivering a wealth of news, insights, and updates tailored to your unique needs.
The federal workforce deserves a retirement process that matches the demands of the 21st century. OPM Director Scott Kupor said in a recent interview that he expects about 300,000 federal employees to depart by the end of 2025, cutting the overall size of the federal workforce from about 2.4 million down to 2.1 million. The OPM retirement backlog has surged to levels not seen in over a decade. Rob, 78, and his longtime wife, Michele, 70, were found dead inside their Brentwood mansion by their daughter Sunday afternoon, according to authorities and law-enforcement sources. The coroner is still attempting to pinpoint a time of death, but prosecutors believe two were killed sometime early Sunday morning.
If there is some reprieve in the incoming claims and OPM can get some of the backlog reduced, particularly if the pace of processing digital applications continues to increase, that will certainly help to manage what could be an even busier January than usual. When the ORA system was launched, OPM said that it would only accept digital retirement applications in the future, so as of July 15, 2025, OPM has only been accepting digital applications. The introduction of the Online Retirement Application (ORA) was intended to streamline the antiquated method of manual processing of federal retirement claims. As the fallout from the Deferred Resignation Program and the uncertainty surrounding the federal workforce continue to play out, OPM received 23,393 federal retirement claims in November. During the same two months of 2024, OPM received 13,680 applications for processing.
Currently, the backlog stands at 13,835 digital applications and 34,561 paper versions for a total inventory of 48,396 federal retirement applications awaiting processing. The inventory of retirement applications pending at OPM grew in November to about 49,400 from the 34,600 in October, although the average processing time there decreased from 79 to 73 days, as use of the online portal OPM launched in the summer is starting to show some impact. Mistakes or missing information in federal retirement applications can significantly delay processing, postponing your access to full benefits. At the end of November 2025, OPM had an inventory of 48,396 retirement applications (both paper and digital) awaiting final processing.
Federal employees nearing retirement are encouraged to review the data below in order to lessen the possible delay in receiving their benefits after the application is submitted. Average Processing Time in Days represents the number of days starting when OPM receives the retirement application through final adjudication. OPM processed more than 7,700 retirement claims last month, reducing the inventory to about 15,178. The Office of Personnel Management’s retirement application backlog decreased in August by approximately 4%. There are thousands of employees who have entered retirement since the Fork in the Road began the process of massive federal downsizing but have not yet begun to receive their full retirement benefits.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0