The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is basically the slow, bloated HR department for the entire U.S. government. It’s supposed to handle hiring, benefits, and worker protections, but like most bureaucracies, it’s known more for inefficiency and red tape than actually helping people.

What does OPM do (or at least try to do)?

1. Controls Government Hiring – OPM sets the rules for hiring federal employees, but the process is notoriously slow and filled with unnecessary steps that make it harder for good candidates to get through.
2. Manages Benefits (Badly) – It oversees health insurance and retirement plans for government workers, but its systems are outdated, and mistakes are common, leaving employees stuck in endless paperwork nightmares.
3. Claims to Ensure Fairness – While OPM says it prevents discrimination in hiring, it’s often criticized for being out of touch, slow to act, and more focused on bureaucracy than real solutions.
4. Fails at Protecting Data – Despite being in charge of sensitive worker information, OPM suffered one of the biggest government data breaches in history (in 2015), exposing millions of personal records due to poor security.

In short, OPM is a massive, inefficient agency that controls hiring and benefits for federal workers but is often more of an obstacle than a help.

Office of Personnel Management