LANSING – A total of 4,755 state employees have opted to take the state’s early retirement option, officials with the Department of Technology, Management and Budget said Tuesday, and the largest number of those is retiring from the Department of Human Services.
The controversial retirement proposal was finally approved at the end of September and was critical to the state resolving its 2010-11 budget. The savings from that incentive, and from having those workers who did not retire pay 3 percent of their future health care insurance costs, were considered critical to keeping the budget in balance.
The budget assumed some 3,400 workers would step down, generating some $60 million in savings. Because more workers said they would retire, DTMB officials said the state should exceed those projected savings.
The final amount saved will depend on future personnel decisions by Governor-elect Rick Snyder.
Of those that elected to retire, 914 did so on November 1. Those taking the option must leave either December 1 or January 1, 2011, and DTMB officials said the vast majority are retiring on January 1.
Of all the state’s departments, Human Services will lose the largest number of workers, 1,306. A total of 565 workers are retiring from the Department of Community Health while 439 will retire from the Department of Corrections. Another 397 are leaving from the Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth and 328 from the Department of Transportation.
The Executive Office and an employee who had been with the former Department of Environmental Quality had the lowest number of workers retiring, at one each.
Slightly more than 14,000 workers met the requirement that their age and years of service meet at least 80, or that they could purchase credits to reach 80, officials said.
This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com
a>>
