4,600 taking early retirement; 1,211 from DOT

ALBANY -- After 32 years on the job, Cheryl Felitte of Colonie is finally getting ready to turn in her keys and turn off her work computer for good.

Felitte has worked as a clerk for the Higher Education Services Corporation, which employs 600 people to monitor student loan payments at its Albany office on Washington Avenue. 

Felitte is one of 80 of those 600 employees who have decided to take Early Retirement under the Governor's plan to reduce the state workforce and save taxpayers $250 million.

Under the Early Retirement plan, Felitte, who is 58, will have three years added to her 32 years of state employment. 

Her last day of work is September 24. "I will miss the people, it will be tough," she says.

But she is still not sure how much extra retirement money that will mean for her. Felitte says it's been hard to get an appointment with the State Retirement System to find out some of  the details of her decision.

While HESC is losing 80 workers to Early Retirement, a spokesman for the the Department of the Budget tells CBS 6 News as of August 30, 4,594 state workers have decided to take Early Retirement. 

That includes 1,211 from the Department of Transportation; 263 from the Department of Environmental Conservation; 192 from the Office of Mental Health; 450 from Tax and Finance; and 237 workers from the Department of Motor Vehicles.

For Cheryl Felitte, the decision to retire at this time is bittersweet. Without the incentive she said she would continue working.

And Felitte expects that last day at work will be a day with tears.