More Georgia state employees seeking retirement
By Walter Jones
ATLANTA – There’s been more than a 10 percent increase in the number of state workers retiring this year, and about a 20 percent jump in those seeking information about retirement, according to figures from the State Retirement System of Georgia.
“I don’t think state government is a pleasant place to work anymore,” said Claude Vickers, president of the Georgia State Retirees Association. “There is so much uncertainty.”
The possibility of budget cuts, furloughs and layoffs create a feeling of unease, said Vickers, who retired as executive director of Georgia Public Broadcasting. Before that he served eight years as the state auditor which put him on the boards of directors of the State of Georgia Employees’ Retirement System and the Teachers Retirement System.
“As the employee gains experience, he or she becomes more valuable,” he said.
State workers can get a retirement check after 10 years on the job. If they are younger than 60 or have fewer than 30 years on the payroll, their pension is reduced by 7 percent for each year early they retire.
Employees hired before 1982 can get 2.2 percent of their highest salary times the number of years they worked. Those hired between 1982 and 2008 get 2 percent, and recent hires get 1 percent plus the state’s match of up to 5 percent of contributions to a 401(k) type plan.
The complex formula could be what’s prompted a growing number to seek a calculation from the state to see if they qualify for an amount ample to live on.
“We’re a little bit busier than we usually are,” said Jim Potvin, deputy director of the Retirement System. “But that hasn’t translated into actual retirements.”
The 10.2 percent increase in actual retirements for general state workers is tiny compared to a 263 percent increase in the number of retirements this year in the Judicial Retirement System.
Teachers, though, have been staying in place. Retirements so far this fiscal year are down 1.5 percent.
That’s not for a lack of frustration, according to Tim Callahan, spokesman for the Professional Association of Georgia Educators. The association is bracing for a flood of its members retiring soon.
“I think it’s as much about the morale as anything because they are having to do more with less,” he said.
Georgia isn’t alone.
States across the country are experiencing the same rise in retirements, according to Sujit CanagaRetna, a policy analyst for the Southern Legislative Conference.
“These have been rough times for state employees, just as it has been for the whole economy,” he said
The exodus can leave the remaining workers picking up tasks of those who retired. It also means the loss of veterans who have what experts call institutional knowledge.
CanagaRetna predicts continuing cuts to state budgets will add to the stream of departures.
“That is definitely something that has propelled people who are 55 and moving on,” he said. “I think you’ll see more of that.”
source: Florida Times-Union
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