The OPM retirement backlog shrank nearly 9% in September 2022 but still is a large overall total number as the end of the calendar year approaches.
The Office of Personnel Management processed 10,681 retirement claims last month and only 8,086 new claims were received. This helped reduce the total backlog by 2,595. The total now stands at 26,642. This is still a very large number, but it was approaching 40,000 back in the spring.
The backlog was reduced in September despite one of the highest average monthly processing times so far this year. It took OPM on average 92 days to process retirement applications, second only to when it was 94 in January.
September 2022 was a busier month for retirement activity compared to the last five years. OPM received and processed more retirement claims this September than in any year since 2018. However, the backlog was higher in 2021 than this year.
| Claims Received | Claims Processed | Total Backlog | |
| September 2022 | 8,086 | 10,681 | 26,642 |
| September 2021 | 7,589 | 7,344 | 28,810 |
| September 2020 | 6,244 | 6,540 | 18,274 |
| September 2019 | 7,456 | 7,656 | 17,376 |
| September 2018 | 7,142 | 7,027 | 17,628 |
Although the OPM retirement backlog has been improving, federal employees who are retiring in the near future should plan on waiting several months to have their retirement paperwork fully processed and finalized by OPM.
The busiest time of the year for retiring is normally the end of a calendar year. If OPM can make headway reducing the backlog during the last quarter of the year, that will offset the typical surge of retirement applications that normally come pouring in during January and February.
OPM Retirement Backlog Processing Status – September 2022
| Month | Claims Received | Claims Processed | Inventory (Steady state goal is 13,000) | Monthly Average Processing Time in Days | FYTD Average Processing Time in Days |
| Oct-20 | 8,323 | 6,992 | 19,605 | 77 | 77 |
| Nov-20 | 5,876 | 5,459 | 20,022 | 74 | 76 |
| Dec-20 | 5,135 | 5,470 | 19,687 | 74 | 75 |
| Jan-21 | 13,850 | 6,569 | 26,968 | 85 | 78 |
| Feb-21 | 7,495 | 8,003 | 26,460 | 77 | 78 |
| Mar-21 | 9,664 | 8,756 | 27,368 | 69 | 76 |
| Apr-21 | 9,414 | 11,396 | 25,386 | 71 | 75 |
| May-21 | 7,684 | 8,451 | 24,619 | 70 | 74 |
| Jun-21 | 7,264 | 6,884 | 24,999 | 78 | 75 |
| Jul-21 | 8,922 | 6,920 | 27,001 | 91 | 76 |
| Aug-21 | 8,976 | 7,412 | 28,565 | 93 | 78 |
| Sep-21 | 7,589 | 7,344 | 28,810 | 94 | 79 |
| Oct-21 | 8,006 | 10,711 | 26,105 | 95 | 95 |
| Nov-21 | 8,266 | 8,010 | 26,361 | 79 | 88 |
| Dec-21 | 7,569 | 7,200 | 26,730 | 92 | 89 |
| Jan-22 | 13,266 | 8,689 | 31,307 | 94 | 90 |
| Feb-22 | 12,241 | 8,124 | 35,424 | 89 | 90 |
| Mar-22 | 10,042 | 9,117 | 36,349 | 82 | 89 |
| Apr-22 | 9,983 | 11,393 | 34,939 | 80 | 87 |
| May-22 | 7,673 | 10,266 | 32,346 | 88 | 87 |
| Jun-22 | 6,032 | 7,935 | 30,443 | 90 | 88 |
| Jul-22 | 9,487 | 10,706 | 29,224 | 92 | 88 |
| Aug-22 | 8,032 | 8,019 | 29,237 | 87 | 88 |
| *Sep-22 | 8,086 | 10,681 | 26,642 | 92 | 88 |
Disability determinations are included in the pending number after approval. Average Processing Time in Days represents the number of days starting when OPM receives the retirement application through final adjudication.
*Initial retirement cases produced in less than 60 days, on average took 38 days to complete; whereas cases that were produced in more than 60 days, on average, took 125 days to complete.
