OPM touts ‘fully paperless’ retirement application, though concerns remain

The Office of Personnel Management announced last week that it will roll out a new “paperless” retirement application for use across the federal government next month. But experts warn the milestone in OPM's decades-long effort to modernize the retirement process is not the panacea that the Trump administration has touted it to be.

According to a memo from acting OPM Director Charles Ezell to agency heads, effective June 2, the federal government’s HR agency will require all new retirement applications to be submitted electronically via its new Online Retirement Application form. OPM is working with various agency payroll providers to prepare for the changeover next month.

“Over the last several months, [the Department of Government Efficiency] has been closely working with the Retirement Services team at OPM with the goal of creating an entirely digital process that dramatically reduces the amount of time it takes to process retirement applications, providing a more efficient and improved experience to federal employees,” Ezell wrote. “The federal workforce deserves a retirement process that matches the demands of the 21st century.

Though billed as an outpouring of DOGE’s work, OPM has been working on digitizing the federal retirement process for years. One official familiar with the agency’s recent work told Government Executive OPM had recently completed a pilot program for the online retirement application and described a government-wide rollout as “the natural next step.”

John Hatton, staff vice president for policy and programs at the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, said his organization is “cautiously optimistic” that the paperless retirement application will help to cut down on the wait former federal workers experience before they receive their retirement benefits. But many questions remain about just how much of an impact it will have.

“We’re not ready to celebrate yet,” he said. “We need to see how this system works in practice. Will it effectively cut down processing time, and by how much? Will it maintain accuracy in processing applications, so retirees receive their full benefits?”

One big question mark is what difference, if any, an online retirement application will make in the time it takes to process the retirement benefits of an employee if most of their underlying employment and salary records remain on paper. One former official noted that during the pilot program, if an online retirement application came into OPM for an retiree whose records were still on paper, employees needed to print out the online application and process it under the old system.

Hatton also questioned how well HR staff are prepared both to learn a new retirement application process, as well as the impending mountain of retirements as employees accept the deferred resignation program, Voluntary Early Retirement Authority or otherwise depart government.

“Will the new system, in coordination with the remaining staff at OPM, be prepared to handle the wave of retirements coming from those eligible to retire who have separated from service due to reductions in force or from those taking deferred resignation offers?” he said. “Providing accurate and timely retirement benefits is the least the administration can do for those whose careers in public service have been prematurely and unceremoniously ended.”