SPECIAL EDITION: How Many Federal Workers Have Lost Their Jobs This Year?
Tracking cuts to the federal workforce isn’t as easy as you might think.
For example, the monthly jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed only 4,000 jobs lost in the federal government sector during the month of March. That’s because the BLS tally only counts workers who are no longer on the payroll. Workers who are on paid leave don’t show up in the survey, even if their tenure with the employer will end when their leave is up.
There’s also a lot of legal wrangling going on right now to determine whether Trump administration-mandated reductions in force will stand. Further, some of the agencies involved may reverse select terminations, as the Department of Health and Human Services seems to have done. (Forgive the wishy-washy language — it’s very hard to get definite answers in the current environment, to say the least.)
Regardless of the exact numbers, the facts are these: thousands of federal workers have lost and will continue to lose their jobs in the next year. This will have a devastating impact not only on these workers and their families but on the job market and the economy at large.
How Many Workers Have Lost Their Jobs So Far This Year?
At least 121,361 and as many as 216,000 federal workers have lost their jobs this year so far. Here are a few sources:
Layoffs.fyi: 79,379 federal workers laid off by DOGE cuts: 156,621 total federal departures
CNN – Tracking Trump’s Overhaul of the Federal Workforce: At least 121,361 federal workers so far. (This tracker shows individual agency numbers as well.)
Business Insider: Per BI’s recent report, 216,000 federal employees and contractors were cut in March alone. Note that this number includes contractors and job cuts that were just announced. (BI’s report is paywalled. Yahoo! News offers a summary.)
Challenger, Gray, and Christmas: 216,615 federal government job cuts in March, and the total number of job cuts for the month (275,240) is up 205% year-over-year.
What Is the Larger Impact of Those Layoffs and Terminations?
Even if we use the lowest possible estimates, this is a huge number of unemployed workers to hit the job market all at once — especially since many of these workers will be entering industries like business & professional services and tech, which have been growing more slowly in recent months.
In addition, experts say that federal layoffs have an impact on private industry. Patrick Clapp, senior economic consultant at Chmura Economics & Analytics, told Marketplace.org that each job loss in the federal workforce could lead to 1.3 jobs lost in the private sector.
It’s also important to note that federal jobs aren’t just concentrated in the Washington, D.C. area. The Impact Project provides an interactive map showing how reductions in the federal workforce impact communities all over the U.S. The loss of these local jobs will likely hurt revenue at small businesses near those offices.
What Can Federal Workers Do Now?
If you’re a federal employee or contractor, your first move is to make sure that you get everything you’re entitled to in terms of unemployment support and job-searching help. We’ve put together a list of free and cheap resources for newly unemployed federal workers. You’ll find everything from information on unemployment insurance to free coaching, career, and legal services.
This is a scary time but people are coming together to help each other. Don’t be afraid to reach out.
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