Government employee thread! (Being a government employee is sweet) (2 Viewers)

[Capella]

It’s sad reading the stories on Reddit.

This will hurt the federal workforce for the rest of our lives. Nobody with options will take a federal job over something else. Used to be you could sell people on security over lower pay. That will be gone permanently.

 

[3C's]

It’s sad reading the stories on Reddit.

This will hurt the federal workforce for the rest of our lives. Nobody with options will take a federal job over something else. Used to be you could sell people on security over lower pay. That will be gone permanently.

Used to be people cared about (un)employment numbers. Guess not anymore.

 

[-OZ-]

"Staffers have been told to expect deep job cuts among the agency's approximately 12,000 employees and the closure of many of its offices around the U.S., the sources said. Those employees who remain are being warned to expect their actions to be surveilled, from their swipes into government facilities to the keystrokes they type on their computers."

This is pretty standard in the tech industry in terms of the monitoring.

Pretty standard everywhere now I think. I work in a hospital and they monitor us. Don’t see that as some big smoking gun.

We’ve always had the ability, but it isn’t actively monitored and used. It has been something to use if you have an underperforming employee or someone you suspect is lying on their timesheet. Other than that, nobody really cares.

Thanks, everyone informing me that this is pretty much standard and expected. I've never worked in government and never worked for a company with over 20 employees, have run a small business for a long time, and have never experienced it and certainly have never inflicted it on my employees. I just did not know it was so accepted these days.

As an agency attorney I kinda like it. But as I mentioned before, I make sure employees know about it.

 

[Steve Tasker]

It’s sad reading the stories on Reddit.

This will hurt the federal workforce for the rest of our lives. Nobody with options will take a federal job over something else. Used to be you could sell people on security over lower pay. That will be gone permanently.

Honestly, as a CPA I've always considered the IRS as a back-pocket fallback if I ever wanted to take a step back at some point in the future - lower pay, better WLB, job security. These past few weeks have significantly changed that - as a very qualified potential experienced hire, I no longer view it as a reasonable option.

 

[Max Power]

Just got a text from our lead civilian.

ETA: just confirmed the Pentagon has not received guidance either.

FYSA, there is some heightened concern going around about the news that OPM advised federal agencies to fire their employees who are on probationary status (280K federal employees). I checked with J1 and there is no guidance from DOD or the Army or anything that we will even be exempt. A few of the NGA guys got e-mails that they fell within the criteria but nothing specific about being released. None of our Army civilians have reported receiving anything. Obviously, nothing we can do at our level but that doesnt help satisfy the people it might impact. Hopefully more guidance will come soon.

OPM advises agencies to fire probationary employees after ‘deferred resignation’ deadline

OPM stopped accepting new offers for its deferred resignation offer, as of 7:20 p.m. on Wednesday night.

federalnewsnetwork.com

 

[Balco]

Just odd at how quickly this has been rushed through. There is without question going to be legal challenges and if the mass layoffs are reversed it will be an even bigger cost.

My thoughts are with everyone who is losing their jobs.

 

[Max Power]

Just odd at how quickly this has been rushed through. There is without question going to be legal challenges and if the mass layoffs are reversed it will be an even bigger cost.

My thoughts are with everyone who is losing their jobs.

Probationary employees don't have many legal protections from being terminated. I'm pretty sure the government can easily release those employees. The reality is those are the ones who should have considered the deferred resignation the hardest.

 

[Orange&Blue]

It’s sad reading the stories on Reddit.

This will hurt the federal workforce for the rest of our lives. Nobody with options will take a federal job over something else. Used to be you could sell people on security over lower pay. That will be gone permanently.

yes. my agency wasn't affected by freeze, but my two newbies trying to bring on are no longer interested due to this.

 

[Orange&Blue]

Just odd at how quickly this has been rushed through. There is without question going to be legal challenges and if the mass layoffs are reversed it will be an even bigger cost.

My thoughts are with everyone who is losing their jobs.

they are going quick on purpose to avoid protections/etc.

 

[Judge Smails]

On another note, vendors who sell to the government are freaking out too. It’s the one area where termination for convenience contract language is the norm. Contracts can and are getting cancelled. Used to be the rare exception but all bets are off now.

 

[needanap]

Just odd at how quickly this has been rushed through. There is without question going to be legal challenges and if the mass layoffs are reversed it will be an even bigger cost.

My thoughts are with everyone who is losing their jobs.

Probationary employees don't have many legal protections from being terminated. I'm pretty sure the government can easily release those employees. The reality is those are the ones who should have considered the deferred resignation the hardest.

I know a probationary employee who was very concerned and was considering the offer. The deadline was then extended by court order. This gave the employee more time to consider the offer. All of a sudden, the court order was removed and before much consideration could be done, the offer deadline occurred. I imagine if a clear deadline was given, more probationary employees might have taken the offer.

 

[the moops]

Just odd at how quickly this has been rushed through. There is without question going to be legal challenges and if the mass layoffs are reversed it will be an even bigger cost.

My thoughts are with everyone who is losing their jobs.

Probationary employees don't have many legal protections from being terminated. I'm pretty sure the government can easily release those employees. The reality is those are the ones who should have considered the deferred resignation the hardest.

I know a probationary employee who was very concerned and was considering the offer. The deadline was then extended by court order. This gave the employee more time to consider the offer. All of a sudden, the court order was removed and before much consideration could be done, the offer deadline occurred. I imagine if a clear deadline was given, more probationary employees might have taken the offer.

Or if it was juts known that every probationary employee was going to be the first to be cut rather than waiting a couple weeks for that info to be made public

 

[fatness]

On another note, vendors who sell to the government are freaking out too. It’s the one area where termination for convenience contract language is the norm. Contracts can and are getting cancelled. Used to be the rare exception but all bets are off now.

Additionally, some vendor invoices already submitted for work already performed are not being paid.

 

[djmich]

It’s sad reading the stories on Reddit.

This will hurt the federal workforce for the rest of our lives. Nobody with options will take a federal job over something else. Used to be you could sell people on security over lower pay. That will be gone permanently.

I know that Bill Clinton and Al Gore also had an aggressive effort to eliminate government jobs (according to AI 400,000 were eliminated through buyouts, etc). I don't recall the "feeling" then and I'd wager the feeling now is harsher...but 400k is a lot, and the language they used was pretty straightforward in terms of eliminating jobs, government waste, etc. It didn't seem to have a lifetime effect and cause nobody to take federal jobs. Again, not saying these are two exact apples, but its not apples to oranges either...and there have been a lot of people added to government payrolls since.

 

[Ilov80s]

It’s sad reading the stories on Reddit.

This will hurt the federal workforce for the rest of our lives. Nobody with options will take a federal job over something else. Used to be you could sell people on security over lower pay. That will be gone permanently.

I know that Bill Clinton and Al Gore also had an aggressive effort to eliminate government jobs (according to AI 400,000 were eliminated through buyouts, etc). I don't recall the "feeling" then and I'd wager the feeling now is harsher...but 400k is a lot, and the language they used was pretty straightforward in terms of eliminating jobs, government waste, etc. It didn't seem to have a lifetime effect and cause nobody to take federal jobs. Again, not saying these are two exact apples, but its not apples to oranges either...and there have been a lot of people added to government payrolls since.

The Clinton plan was more methodical, had bipartisan support from Congress and was encoded in law through the traditional legislative process. Which is probably why this feels different.

 

[the moops]

It’s sad reading the stories on Reddit.

This will hurt the federal workforce for the rest of our lives. Nobody with options will take a federal job over something else. Used to be you could sell people on security over lower pay. That will be gone permanently.

I know that Bill Clinton and Al Gore also had an aggressive effort to eliminate government jobs (according to AI 400,000 were eliminated through buyouts, etc). I don't recall the "feeling" then and I'd wager the feeling now is harsher...but 400k is a lot, and the language they used was pretty straightforward in terms of eliminating jobs, government waste, etc. It didn't seem to have a lifetime effect and cause nobody to take federal jobs. Again, not saying these are two exact apples, but its not apples to oranges either...and there have been a lot of people added to government payrolls since.

The layoffs with Clinton underwent a 6 month review and had bipartisan congressional support.

 

[Joe Schmo]

https://www.politifact.com/article/2025/feb/06/yes-bill-clinton-offered-mass-federal-employee-buy/

A refresher of the Clinton era reduction in force program for those interested.

 

[Stoneworker]

Just odd at how quickly this has been rushed through. There is without question going to be legal challenges and if the mass layoffs are reversed it will be an even bigger cost.

My thoughts are with everyone who is losing their jobs.

Probationary employees don't have many legal protections from being terminated. I'm pretty sure the government can easily release those employees. The reality is those are the ones who should have considered the deferred resignation the hardest.

I know a probationary employee who was very concerned and was considering the offer. The deadline was then extended by court order. This gave the employee more time to consider the offer. All of a sudden, the court order was removed and before much consideration could be done, the offer deadline occurred. I imagine if a clear deadline was given, more probationary employees might have taken the offer.

Or if it was juts known that every probationary employee was going to be the first to be cut rather than waiting a couple weeks for that info to be made public

The writing has been on the wall for over three weeks. Maybe do some research first before posting these types of comments.

January 21, 2025

The Trump administration is giving federal agencies until the end of this week to deliver lists of all their employees who are still within their one-year probationary periods, while also reminding agency leaders that newly hired members of the workforce are the easiest to fire.

The memo could pave the way for agencies to potentially remove some newly hired workers while skirting the civil service protections most career federal employees have once they pass the one-year mark in the federal workforce.

Trump administration asks agencies for lists of newly hired federal employees

A new Office of Personnel Management memo also tells agencies to determine whether or not the new federal hires should be retained at the agency.

federalnewsnetwork.com

 

[the moops]

The writing has been on the wall for over three weeks. Maybe do some research first before posting these types of comments.

I said a couple weeks and it’s actually been 3. The horror of my deceit

 

[Joe Schmo]

Just odd at how quickly this has been rushed through. There is without question going to be legal challenges and if the mass layoffs are reversed it will be an even bigger cost.

My thoughts are with everyone who is losing their jobs.

Probationary employees don't have many legal protections from being terminated. I'm pretty sure the government can easily release those employees. The reality is those are the ones who should have considered the deferred resignation the hardest.

I know a probationary employee who was very concerned and was considering the offer. The deadline was then extended by court order. This gave the employee more time to consider the offer. All of a sudden, the court order was removed and before much consideration could be done, the offer deadline occurred. I imagine if a clear deadline was given, more probationary employees might have taken the offer.

Or if it was juts known that every probationary employee was going to be the first to be cut rather than waiting a couple weeks for that info to be made public

The writing has been on the wall for over three weeks. Maybe do some research first before posting these types of comments.

January 21, 2025

The Trump administration is giving federal agencies until the end of this week to deliver lists of all their employees who are still within their one-year probationary periods, while also reminding agency leaders that newly hired members of the workforce are the easiest to fire.

The memo could pave the way for agencies to potentially remove some newly hired workers while skirting the civil service protections most career federal employees have once they pass the one-year mark in the federal workforce.

Trump administration asks agencies for lists of newly hired federal employees

A new Office of Personnel Management memo also tells agencies to determine whether or not the new federal hires should be retained at the agency.

federalnewsnetwork.com

Fork in the road was sent January 28th so two weeks ago and with contrary, confusing and muddled guidance to boot. All in all a rushed and lousy RIF rollout, imo.

 

[fatness]

The writing has been on the wall for over three weeks. Maybe do some research first before posting these types of comments.

January 21, 2025

The Trump administration is giving federal agencies until the end of this week to deliver lists of all their employees who are still within their one-year probationary periods, while also reminding agency leaders that newly hired members of the workforce are the easiest to fire.

The memo could pave the way for agencies to potentially remove some newly hired workers while skirting the civil service protections most career federal employees have once they pass the one-year mark in the federal workforce.

I'm seeing the administration giving instruction to agencies in that blurb.
I'm not seeing the administration giving notice to provisional employees that they will be the first let go.

 

[djmich]

It’s sad reading the stories on Reddit.

This will hurt the federal workforce for the rest of our lives. Nobody with options will take a federal job over something else. Used to be you could sell people on security over lower pay. That will be gone permanently.

I know that Bill Clinton and Al Gore also had an aggressive effort to eliminate government jobs (according to AI 400,000 were eliminated through buyouts, etc). I don't recall the "feeling" then and I'd wager the feeling now is harsher...but 400k is a lot, and the language they used was pretty straightforward in terms of eliminating jobs, government waste, etc. It didn't seem to have a lifetime effect and cause nobody to take federal jobs. Again, not saying these are two exact apples, but its not apples to oranges either...and there have been a lot of people added to government payrolls since.

The layoffs with Clinton underwent a 6 month review and had bipartisan congressional support.

Thats good, but really misses what I was addressing. Were potential federal workers supposed to feel better about taking a federal job because BOTH parties agreed they wanted to aggressively eliminate existing federal jobs. That actually sounds a bit more in the cross hairs as there was bipartisan support to reduce government, whereas now it seems more one party. 1 month or 6 months...the result is the same.

 

[Stoneworker]

The writing has been on the wall for over three weeks. Maybe do some research first before posting these types of comments.

January 21, 2025

The Trump administration is giving federal agencies until the end of this week to deliver lists of all their employees who are still within their one-year probationary periods, while also reminding agency leaders that newly hired members of the workforce are the easiest to fire.

The memo could pave the way for agencies to potentially remove some newly hired workers while skirting the civil service protections most career federal employees have once they pass the one-year mark in the federal workforce.

I'm seeing the administration giving instruction to agencies in that blurb.
I'm not seeing the administration giving notice to provisional employees that they will be the first let go.

It was public information. Beyond obvious to anyone paying attention what the implications were going to be.

Just like the the 1/21 EO on merit-based employment and the subsequent OPM request for low-performance employees due 3/11.

Which will be the next shoe to drop

 

[Gr00vus]

On another note, vendors who sell to the government are freaking out too. It’s the one area where termination for convenience contract language is the norm. Contracts can and are getting cancelled. Used to be the rare exception but all bets are off now.

Boeing is anticipating the administration will cancel the Space Launch System rocket (SLS) program and are talking about layoffs. They have about 800 people working that program who would be at risk. I think the expectation is SLS Is replaced with Musk's SpaceX rockets for the upcoming moon launches - though there's a lot of speculation that the whole Artemis program will also get cancelled.

 

[Max Power]

Just odd at how quickly this has been rushed through. There is without question going to be legal challenges and if the mass layoffs are reversed it will be an even bigger cost.

My thoughts are with everyone who is losing their jobs.

Probationary employees don't have many legal protections from being terminated. I'm pretty sure the government can easily release those employees. The reality is those are the ones who should have considered the deferred resignation the hardest.

I know a probationary employee who was very concerned and was considering the offer. The deadline was then extended by court order. This gave the employee more time to consider the offer. All of a sudden, the court order was removed and before much consideration could be done, the offer deadline occurred. I imagine if a clear deadline was given, more probationary employees might have taken the offer.

I get it, its a tough situation, but there was a deadline. And the court order extended the deadline past the original date.

 

[Gatorade]

Apparently the WH is actually boasting about these savings which will amount to roughly $1.5T over 10 years if they get through all the lawsuits....while we are running $31T in the red. The results of this fiasco likely won't account for the interest on the debt much less reduce it. I'm all for cutting waste, but if you're going to be serious about it you start with defense, SS and the like.

I think Defense is next on the list and could probably show the biggest results.

 

[Oracle]

It's also widely reported as The unemployment is going to be something to watch. Not just with government employees but with the billions in money being cut off from research. Many of those research universities are the largest employers in their cities and sometimes whole State. Considering Elon’s entire career has been heavily funded with government research grant you would think he would be more supportive than he has been but I don’t have all the details of what specifically is being cut and what is being saved. It sure seems like he is running things now though.

1. Department of Energy’s audit was about a week ago. They only accessed our payment and employment systems. Once our audit was done, our funds were unfrozen and we have returned to business as normal. This is fantastic news for the high performance computing group, as we are in the process of building our next super computer (Discovery) and creating a parent company so that all the semiconductors used for the US governments computers are made in the US.
2. My daughter is working on cancer research for her PhD at MIT and her NSF funds have been frozen. They only have about six months worth of “buffer” before they shut down. This will be a blow as they are having tremendous success in the lab.

Parent Company I mentioned above!
ETA…As a sidenote… The congressional committee that overseas these decisions contacted my boss on January 22 to inquire as to what companies I was recommending. I couldn’t discuss that and wouldn’t discuss that since they did not have the the ability to work on contracts over $100,000. Can’t imagine why they wanted to know what “parent companies”I was going to recommend.

 

[-OZ-]

It’s sad reading the stories on Reddit.

This will hurt the federal workforce for the rest of our lives. Nobody with options will take a federal job over something else. Used to be you could sell people on security over lower pay. That will be gone permanently.

yes. my agency wasn't affected by freeze, but my two newbies trying to bring on are no longer interested due to this.

I’m really looking forward to visiting law schools to recruit talent.

Apparently the WH is actually boasting about these savings which will amount to roughly $1.5T over 10 years if they get through all the lawsuits....while we are running $31T in the red. The results of this fiasco likely won't account for the interest on the debt much less reduce it. I'm all for cutting waste, but if you're going to be serious about it you start with defense, SS and the like.

There’s a lot to cut in defense before we even get to employees.

 

[Max Power]

Apparently the WH is actually boasting about these savings which will amount to roughly $1.5T over 10 years if they get through all the lawsuits....while we are running $31T in the red. The results of this fiasco likely won't account for the interest on the debt much less reduce it. I'm all for cutting waste, but if you're going to be serious about it you start with defense, SS and the like.

It's been less than 30 days. They'll get there.

 

[uwillbsoon]

Problem is they're also planning a $4.5 trillion tax cut.

So it won't do much to the deficit.

 

[belljr]

Curious if my daughter summer internship at a DoD facility ends up cut. She was there for the fall and really like it :(

They asked her back and I told her to reach out in a couple weeks if they have any idea

 

[Max Power]

Problem is they're also planning a $4.5 trillion tax cut.

So it won't do much to the deficit.

That's 4.5 trillion of American buying power.

 

[Ilov80s]

Problem is they're also planning a $4.5 trillion tax cut.

So it won't do much to the deficit.

That's 4.5 trillion of American buying power.

Yes assuming it goes to people spending and not coffers or stock buybacks

 

[BlackCrowes]

Problem is they're also planning a $4.5 trillion tax cut.

So it won't do much to the deficit.

That's 4.5 trillion of American buying power.

that's always worked in the past

 

[Ilov80s]

Good grief Thursday they laid off hundreds of Dept of Energy staff and Friday called them back when they realized those were the people who maintained our nuclear weapon supply.

 

[belljr]

Good grief Thursday they laid off hundreds of Dept of Energy staff and Friday called them back when they realized those were the people who maintained our nuclear weapon supply.

And thats why everybody's on pins and needles because it feels like it not clear who or where it's coming. They could reduce the force properly instead of "random" and not sure anyone would bat an eye.

 

[Don Quixote]

Good grief Thursday they laid off hundreds of Dept of Energy staff and Friday called them back when they realized those were the people who maintained our nuclear weapon supply.

I read the Isaacson biography on Musk that came out a couple of years ago. It talked about how part of his cost-cutting with SpaceX was eliminating parts (to reduce weight and fuel) and, if it does not blow up, then you know not a critical part (part of his “delete” mantra). And then put it back if you find out it is critical. Sounds like a bit of that going on, with government employees caught in the middle.

 

[uwillbsoon]

Good grief Thursday they laid off hundreds of Dept of Energy staff and Friday called them back when they realized those were the people who maintained our nuclear weapon supply.

I read the Isaacson biography on Musk that came out a couple of years ago. It talked about how part of his cost-cutting with SpaceX was eliminating parts (to reduce weight and fuel) and, if it does not blow up, then you know not a critical part (part of his “delete” mantra). And then put it back if you find out it is critical. Sounds like a bit of that going on, with government employees caught in the middle.

He did this exact thing with Twitter. Cut too many folks and then had to ask a good chunk of people to come back.

A fair number did not.

 

[uwillbsoon]

Problem is they're also planning a $4.5 trillion tax cut.

So it won't do much to the deficit.

That's 4.5 trillion of American buying power.

That's great and all. Still doesn't trim the deficit if that's the stated goal.

 

[Alex P Keaton]

Good grief Thursday they laid off hundreds of Dept of Energy staff and Friday called them back when they realized those were the people who maintained our nuclear weapon supply.

I read the Isaacson biography on Musk that came out a couple of years ago. It talked about how part of his cost-cutting with SpaceX was eliminating parts (to reduce weight and fuel) and, if it does not blow up, then you know not a critical part (part of his “delete” mantra). And then put it back if you find out it is critical. Sounds like a bit of that going on, with government employees caught in the middle.

Not a political comment at all — but that’s a crazy high level of risk tolerance…..probably because the downside consequences don’t really impact him personally in any of these cases

 

[uwillbsoon]

Problem is they're also planning a $4.5 trillion tax cut.

So it won't do much to the deficit.

I guess they could just do nothing and allow ridiculous government waste while people have less spending power.
Even if there's a net zero on the elimination of waste plus the proposed tax cuts, that would be a win.
I have a feeling though it will be a net positive.
God how did people running things let that debt get so high? Wowzers

Curious: what are you basing this on?

It's 1.5 trillion in expenditure cuts over ten years. 4.5 trillion in reduced revenue.

I don't know if this is political (it's math, so I hope not), but that's a net loss of three trillion. Which is in improvement. But it's far from what's needed.

Someone said it somewhere: the US government is insurance with a military.

If you don't start your cuts there - defense, Medicaid, Medicare, social security - you're not going to balance the budget.

 

[BlackCrowes]

Good grief Thursday they laid off hundreds of Dept of Energy staff and Friday called them back when they realized those were the people who maintained our nuclear weapon supply.

Rick Perry didn’t know what the department did either

 

[Capella]

Good grief Thursday they laid off hundreds of Dept of Energy staff and Friday called them back when they realized those were the people who maintained our nuclear weapon supply.

is that bad

 

[Nugget]

Local college lost 30% of the staff this week. They are scrambling.

Haskell Indian Nations University lays off dozens of employees after federal orders

Numerous employees of Haskell Indian Nations University lost their jobs Friday as part of sweeping nationwide cuts ordered by President Donald Trump's administration.

lawrencekstimes.com

 

[fatness]

Trump officials fired nuclear staff not realizing they oversee the country’s weapons stockpile

That appears to be how much thought has gone into "what will all these layoffs/firings/induced retirements do?"

The agency began rescinding the terminations Friday morning.

The agency’s quick reversal was announced Friday in an all-staff meeting. The NNSA is seeking to recall the workers because they deal with sensitive national security secrets, according to the people, who weren’t authorized to talk about the matter, which is not public. Those cuts are especially concerning because the positions typically require high-level security clearances and training that can take 18 months or longer, said Jill Hruby, who served as the NNSA administrator during the Biden administration.

https://fortune.com/2025/02/14/doge...sts-energy-department-layoffs-nnsa-elon-musk/

 

[fatness]

Feds Fire 4,400+ Public-Land Employees, Including Forest Service Workers, National Park Staff

the Forest Service dismissed 3,400 people, which is about 10 percent of its workforce. The Interior Department fired about 2,300 probationary employees

 

[Orange&Blue]

national parks are going to be a disaster. may skip Yellowstone this summer.

 

[belljr]

Well we lost two good people today. Been working in my group for 20 years if not longer as contractors and just flipped over earlier and since they were probationary they were let go so. The whole reason we brought them on is we were short-staffed to begin with. So frustrating

Still no idea about anyone else currently

 

[belljr]

Can we take the budget politics out of the thread please

 

[Max Power]

Can we take the budget politics out of the thread please

You're right. That's economy thread stuff. If that one gets shut down, it gets shut down.