The part you cut out explains it:

> (Though it’s possible I almost was; more on that later.)

The part from later in the post that explains it:

> In a terrible coda, a large number of probationary employees were summarily let go at my agency just before my last day.

He wasn't offered a buyout. He quit, and then later, a lot of people were let go. He believes it's probable he would have been one of them had he stayed.

Everyone in the federal government received an email from OPM entitled "A Fork in the Road", offering the opportunity to receive a buyout in exchange for their resignation.

I actually forgot that 18F is literally part of the government instead of a contractor. Thank you.

(I also thought that probationary employees were not eligible for the buyout, but now that makes me want to go check on the accuracy of that.)

Applied to probationary employees as well. I know of one who was there for two days and took it.

The tradeoffs from not wanting to read the article: the writer linked to another article explaining that accepting the deferred resignation contains the following risks:

1. Not getting paid: the agreement is written such that the government may rescind it unilaterally. It is also contrary to existing law in US Code that cap severances to $25k. If it is "administrative leave", then that is capped to 10 days per year.

2. Violating non-competes. If a person is still employed by the US government, they may be prohibited from working for a contractor or other employer with conflicts of interest.

Article by American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE): https://www.afge.org/article/afge-cautions-feds-not-to-be-tr...

My understanding is that probationary employees weren't eligible for the deferred resignation offer.

I know of many probationary employees at the DoE that took it.

He was a probationary employee, so if he didn't quit he likely would have been fired anyway (probationary employees don't get the buyout, and it's very possible rank-and-file won't get it either... it's budget that would have to be approved by congress)