Impending retirements could threaten food safety, study says

Hundreds of federal meat inspectors are eligible for retirement just when their expertise is most needed to implement revised food safety requirements after the first case of mad cow disease was diagnosed in December, according to a recent study by the Partnership for Public Service.

Employees are eligible for retirement at age 55, depending on the number of years they have served in the federal workforce. In a state-by-state analysis of food inspectors, consumer safety inspectors and veterinary medical sciences professionals with the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), the nonpartisan Partnership found that more than 1,000 employees are over age 60-as much as 50 percent of the federal food safety workforce in Nevada, and 20 percent to 30 percent of the workforce in Maine, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Florida, Montana and New Hampshire. FSIS is the Agriculture Department agency responsible for ensuring the safety of meat, poultry and egg products in the United States.

Only 409 FSIS employees nationwide are under age 30, suggesting an out-of-balance workforce.

FSIS spokesman Steven Cohen says the agency plans to hire as many as 80 inspectors this year, bolstering the workforce of 7,500 meat and poultry inspectors who monitor nearly 6,500 meat processing facilities nationwide.

The Partnership for Public Service report is based on June 2003 data provided by the Office of Personnel Management. Among Agriculture Department employees in general, half will be eligible for retirement during the next five years, the study found.

"It's a critical situation at FSIS as well as at a variety of other agencies," says Partnership president Max Stier. "This is an example of a function that is vital and of immediate relevance. We're pointing out that the people we expect to handle these types of situations are here today, but it's not clear that they'll be here tomorrow."

Similar trends are hurting other agencies, Stier said, most notably those responsible for preparing for and responding to biological terrorism.

"The workforce is aging rapidly and [agencies do] not have in place either a talent pipeline or a recruitment strategy to get the very best in to replace those who are leaving," Stier said.