[1]I often refer to OPM’s statistics for my retirement planning articles [2], and OPM’s new FWD website allows anyone to review these statistics in a pleasing graphical presentation that was not available under the legacy system. Actually, you will find a lot of interesting information readily available on this site.
The new Federal Workforce Data (FWD) site was launched publicly this month. FWD replaced the legacy FedScope data collection system with a sleek, professional, and modern update that is user-friendly and provides timely, reliable federal workforce statistics.
FWS Home Page [3]
The legacy system was difficult to use and took time and patience to navigate. Plus, there was a considerable learning curve, with little online guidance to help you get to where you wanted to go. Yet it was better than the printed brochures and documents that preceded it, including OPM’s monthly “Employment and Trends” pamphlet, which contained 31 tables covering every facet of the federal workforce.
I used the original brochures and moved to the FedScope system for the statistics I used in my articles over the years.
Federal Workforce Data (FWD)
“This new site gives the public a faster, clearer, and more user-friendly way to explore federal workforce data. Instead of waiting long stretches between updates, the site will be refreshed on a predictable monthly basis,” according to Scott Kupor, Director, U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
For example, if you click “Explore Data” and then select “Workforce Size and Composition [4],” it shows a graph of total employment from 2015 to the present. Total employment is now back to 2015’s level, and 219,922 positions have been eliminated since January of 2025.
Scrolling lower on this page, you will find a chart showing union participation over time. Currently, 37.9 percent of the workforce is unionized, down from 55% in July of 2025.
Federal employees can review the number of positions lost in their organization under the “Workforce Changes” section. From the beginning of 2025, through January 2026, the following organizations lost the most employees over the past twelve months:
- Department of War – 64,400
- Veterans Affairs – 26,000
- Treasury – 23,500
- Agriculture – 21,900
- Health & Human Services – 16,200
- Department of Justice – 9,300
- Department of the Interior – 9,300
You can check out the entire list [5] under Workforce Changes on the new FWD site. Change the search parameters to 2025-2026.
This FWD site is quite an improvement, and I believe it goes hand in hand with other major automation updates released this past year.
OPM is expanding the range of workforce information they share publicly, including data on retirement eligibility [6], telework and remote work, administrative leave, performance ratings, and federal hiring activity. Automation updates have been released including the recent online acceptance of retirement applications [7].
The Director stressed that new data, visuals, and features will be added each month based on user feedback.
Summary
The site offers excellent visual presentations and is organized into distinct functional groups. It is a work in progress; I have a few issues. First, there isn’t a search function available at this time. A search box on the webpages would let you find the dataset you need without scrolling through all of the dropdown menus.
The retirement and attrition tables aren’t currently available on this system; they may not have been added yet. I did find the retirement claims processing tables [8] on OPM’s site, which I frequently refer to.
They list several acronyms that you have to drill down into the site to discover what they represent. For example, the dropdown menus list EHRI several times. It stands for the “Enterprise Human Resources Integration” (EHRI) system, the federal government’s central source of data on the federal civilian workforce.
Overall, the system is a marked improvement over its predecessor; kudos to OPM for this upgrade.
Helpful Retirement Planning Tools
- Financial Planning Guide for Federal Employees and Annuitants [9]
- TSP Guide [10]
- Budget Worksheet [11]
- Retirement Planning for Federal Employees & Annuitants [12]
- The Ultimate Retirement Planning Guide – Start Now [13]
- Deciding When To Retire – A 7-Step Guide [14]
- 2026 Federal Employee’s Leave Chart [15]
- Medicare Guide [16]
- Social Security Guide [17]
[18]The information contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. This service is not affiliated with OPM or any federal entity. You should consult a financial, medical, or human resource professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss or other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
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