OPM Launches Workforce Skills Survey as It Moves to Trim Federal Job Titles

The Trump administration continues to streamline and redefine the federal workforce, launching a pair of initiatives aimed at reshaping how government jobs are defined and classified.

A new survey is coming, giving federal employees the chance to discuss their jobs and the duties needed to be successful in their positions.

The job competencies survey will hit the inboxes of select employees starting this week. It’s expected to take about 30 to 60 minutes to fill out. 

The survey is part of the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) Federal Workforce Competencies Initiative (FWCI). 

OPM says the survey will provide a data-based foundation “for a wide variety of human capital activities, including job design, recruitment, hiring, performance management, training, and career development.”

The survey will ask employees about their experience, the job components they perform, and any other job components that are “critical to their success.” 

A separate survey will be sent to supervisors asking their views of similar factors for their subordinates and to rate the proficiency required for a particular grade level. 

OPM Trims Federal Job Titles

Meanwhile, OPM is cutting the list of federal job titles to streamline categories and remove obsolete titles. 

Right now, the government has 604 distinct occupational series that categorize jobs across the entire federal workforce. But some of them– like elevator operators, bowling equipment repairers, film assembling and repairing, and bartenders– have few to no employees in them. 

OPM identified 115 occupations to be moved to another job series or eliminated altogether. Roughly 5,000 employees will be impacted. 

For the most part, OPM is trying to group similar positions together into more generalized occupational series.

OPM says the work likely will not change and workers “will not automatically” see changes in their grade, pay, tenure, or career ladder.  

Agencies are asked to submit feedback to the changes by May 11, 2026, if they believe any of the identified job series should be retained.