The Government creates a voluntary retirement scheme for the national administration

The National Executive Branch approved, through Decree 1203/2026, a Voluntary Retirement Scheme intended for permanent staff and those hired on indefinite-term contracts within the centralized National Public Administration, with the suppression of the budgetary positions that become vacant. The measure, signed on October 16 and published in the Official Gazette of the Argentine Republic on October 19, 2026 (First Section), entered into force on the day of its publication.

The decree, identified as DECTO-2026-1203-APN-PTE, was issued within the framework of File No. EX-2026-93338964-APN-CGDYD#MDYTE and in exercise of the powers conferred by Article 99, subsection 1, of the National Constitution. The recitals invoke a “policy of transformation and reorganization of the National State oriented toward the optimization of its structures and staffing,” and maintain that the positions of the personnel who adhere “will be suppressed, which will result in better management of State resources.”

The regulation is supported by existing normative precedents: Decree No. 214/06, which approved the General Collective Labor Agreement for the National Public Administration, provides in its Article 38, subsection h), voluntary retirement as a cause for exit of personnel covered by Law No. 25.164; likewise, Law No. 20.744 (T.O. Decree No. 390/76) allows in its Article 241 the termination of the contract by mutual agreement. The VISTO also mentions Law No. 27.798 and Decree No. 50/2019.

Scope: permanent staff and indefinite contracts

Article 1 delimits the universe covered by the scheme:

• Permanent staff governed by Law No. 25.164.
• Personnel laborally linked by indefinite-term contracts, under the terms of Article 90 and concordant articles of Law No. 20.744 (T.O. Decree No. 390/76).
• Jurisdictions and agencies of the centralized National Public Administration listed in ANNEX I (IF-2026-100691130-APN-STEYFP#MDYTE), which is part of the decree and published in the web edition of the Official Gazette.

Enforcement Authority and Deadlines

Article 2 designates the Secretariat of State Transformation and Public Function of the Ministry of Deregulation and State Transformation as the enforcement authority, with two express powers:

• to extend, for a single time, the deadline for adherence to the scheme, for a period that may not exceed 30 calendar days;
• to issue the complementary, clarifying, and interpretative regulations necessary for its application.

The conditions and the deadline for adherence are referred to ANNEX I of the measure.

Suppression of Positions and Financing

Article 3 obligates the affected jurisdictions to “arrange the necessary measures for the elimination of the budgetary positions corresponding to the personnel who access it,” as of the date on which the employment relationship ceases. That is, the vacancy is not preserved: it is eliminated from the structure.

Article 4 establishes that the expenditure required for the application of the regime shall be charged to the budgetary credits of each of the affected jurisdictions, in accordance with Law No. 24,156 on financial administration and other applicable regulations. Article 5 sets the entry into force from the day of publication in the Official Gazette.

Procedure and prior interventions

Prior to its issuance, the Treasury Secretariat of the Ministry of Economy and the competent legal services intervened. The decree bears the signatures of MILEI, Diego César Santilli, and Federico Adolfo Sturzenegger, and was dated in the City of Buenos Aires on October 16, 2026.

The impact of the measure is twofold: it enables a voluntary exit for the affected personnel and, at the same time, consolidates a structural reduction of the workforce, because each adherence implies the definitive removal of the position from the budget. With the enforcement authority already defined and the possibility of a single extension of up to 30 calendar days, the Secretariat of State Transformation and Public Function is in charge of implementing the mechanism in all jurisdictions included in the annex.

Source: Official Gazette of the Argentine Republic, October 19, 2026, First Section (official reference: Decree 1203/2026 — DECTO-2026-1203-APN-PTE).