A little bit more than a year ago, hundreds of thousands of federal employees and contractors found themselves facing an uncertain future. The Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency or Dodge was created with a mission to reduce government spending and eliminate what it called waste and inefficiency. The result was one of the largest reductions in the federal workplace in margin history. But what happened to those workers after the headlines faded? Did they find new jobs?
Did they move on successfully? Or are they still struggling today? The answers may surprise you. According to reports, more than 300,000 federal employees and contractors lost their jobs during the Dodge workforce reductions. Entire agencies were dramatically downsized.
USID was effectively dismantled. longtime public servants suddenly found themselves competing for jobs on an already difficult labor market. For many Americans, these cuts were just another political story. For federal employees with 20, 30 years of service, it changed everything. Take for example John Berg, who spoke to NBC reporters about his experience.
Before Dodge, he spent decades as a dedicated federal servant working on international development projects around the world, including assignments in Thailand, Kosovo, and El Salvador. After losing his position connected to USID, he began applying for jobs, hundreds of them. In fact, he stopped counting after application number 599. Nearly a year later, he still hasn’t found any comparable work. Instead, he returned to carpentry work, something he had done years earlier while in college.
Today, he helps neighbors with home repairs, porch renovations, and handyman projects. Good work, but he’s only earning about 15% of what he made before. And his story isn’t unique. Organizations supporting former federal workers estimated that a significant portion of affected employees remain unemployed even a year later. Others have accepted positions that pay far less than their previous jobs.
A question many people ask is if these workers were so highly educated and experienced, why can’t they just find another job? But that really misses the point. The reality is much more complicated than many people realize. Many federal employees possess highly specialized skills developed through years and decades of public service. Those skills are valuable, but transitioning from federal experience into private sector opportunities isn’t as always straightforward, and their skills and abilities don’t always translate into the private sector.
Some former employees report that employers don’t fully understand their backgrounds in the federal government. Others say they’re competing against thousands of equally qualified former federal workers entering the job market at the same time. And in regions like here in Washington DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia, where federal employment drives a large portion of the economy, the sheer volume of layoffs created an over supply of job seekers. Simply put, there weren’t enough jobs available to absorb everyone who suddenly needed one. For many former federal employees, the impact extends far beyond a paycheck.
One former FDA manager now spends weeks at a time traveling away from home and away from his family to work as a consultant in another state. Instead of being home with his wife and children, he’s living out of hotels and commuting long distances simply because that’s where the opportunity lies. Others have moved entirely. Some relocated to areas with lower costs of living. Some accepted significant pay cuts.
Some depleted their savings. Some accumulated debt. And for single parents, the challenges can be extremely and especially difficult. Former employees described making painful decisions about housing, child care, and health care after losing stable federal employment. One former federal employee described to an NBC reporter months of uncertainty regarding health insurance coverage after losing her job.
As a diabetic, she delayed medical appointments and routine care while trying to understand what coverage she still had after losing her job. Others reported struggles with unemployment benefits ending while job searches continued. These are challenges that don’t always make the headlines, but they have real consequences for families trying to rebuild their lives after an unexpected job loss. Perhaps the most overlooked impact is the emotional one. Many federal employees chose public service because they believe in the mission.
For them, it wasn’t just another job. It was part of their identity and it was important public service work that they did for all Americans. Many of the former workers interviewed described public service as a calling. They spent years helping veterans, protecting public health, supporting families, responding to crisises or advancing US interests abroad. When those jobs disappeared, many said they also lost a sense of purpose.
Some described struggling with depression. Others talked about losing confidence in themselves professionally. One former CDC employee, for example, said being terminated damaged her sense of selfworth. She had worked for years to secure a permanent role only to lose it months later. And after months of job searching, many former federal employees continue to ask the same question.
What now? Can government agencies become more efficient? Of course. Most federal employees would probably agree there’s always room for improvement. But many former workers argue that reducing waste and eliminating jobs is not necessarily the same thing.
And they believe the people impacted by these decisions are often overlooked in the broader political debate. A year after Dodge, many former federal employees are still searching for work. Others have accepted lowerpaying jobs, moved away from their communities, depleted savings, or faced significant personal hardships. These aren’t just statistics. They are families, parents, public servants, people who devoted years, oftentime decades of their lives to serving the country.
And for many of them, the impact of those layoffs didn’t end when they lost their jobs. They are still living with the consequences today. At the Spiegel Law Firm, we stand with employees for employees. If you’re a current or former federal employee concerned about your rights, workplace issues, or navigating life after federal service, be sure to subscribe for more information and resources. If you’d like to book a consultation with our firm or looking for more employee resources, you can visit our website at spiegel.
com today.
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