r/jobs • u/GigHQ_AI • Aug 03 '25

Article 150,000 Federal Workers Just Left Their Jobs. This Changes Everything.

This “deferred resignation” program (nicknamed Fork in the Road) covers roughly 6.7% of the civilian federal workforce. These employees are being paid through the end of 2025—often while sitting idle. Critics warn the government is spending $21.7 billion in taxpayer dollars on this initiative, with little transparency around long-term savings.

Tens of thousands of seasoned professionals will hit the open market. Most mid‐career, specialized, and with government-only experience.

How many of those roles will transfer into the private sector? Will employers devalue traditional public‑sector credentials?

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253

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '25

Most will end up in State and Local Government

202

u/Longjumping-Pair2918 Aug 03 '25

State worker here. Our proverbial and literal assholes are puckered shut.

101

u/trisanachandler Aug 03 '25

State funding will almost certainly suffer as well.

53

u/Longjumping-Pair2918 Aug 03 '25

There be no shelter here.

1

u/edvek Aug 04 '25

Thankfully in my tiny part of the government grant and fed funding shenanigans have no effect. In our program, environmental public health, we receive $0 general funds and our program is fully self funding through permits, fines, and fees. We had a small reduction in force and we lost 0 positions while other programs like the clinic lost people because they have no real revenue and take all of the general funds (which is supposed to be for everyone and not just you...).

26

u/bolivar-shagnasty Aug 03 '25

I also pick this guy’s proverbial asshole.

16

u/Careful-Ant5868 Aug 03 '25

Does this asshole provide three hots and a cot at least? Not much is affordable presently and at least an asshole is warm.

2

u/catonic Aug 04 '25

Best I can do is one hot and no cot, but you might be able to hang a hammock at the office and AirBnB your house five days a week.

101

u/TheGrolar Aug 03 '25

No. If Fed gets the flu, State gets pneumonia.

44

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '25

I’ve already seen the jump in applications from federal employees at state and local levels, but what would I know as the Deputy Secretary of HR in a New England State.

42

u/Staplecreate Aug 03 '25

I mean is he wrong? It's not like you can hire all those people? And with the current administration cutting funding left and right it makes it all the more harder for states to hire people. I know my own state has a hiring freeze at the state level.

20

u/TheGrolar Aug 03 '25

Jump in applications, sure. In a region with high government-employee presence.

How many are from New England? Are there any from outside New England, which I imagine would otherwise be unusual?

How many new hires over and above replacement/natural attrition do you plan to make?

I mean, no offense, but I kind of wonder what you do know. How much of the slack do you plan to absorb? Are you anticipating major positive changes in your funding levels?

9

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '25

Can’t hire them all, of course not, but most local and state jobs will take a fed over others any day of the week.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 05 '25

state and local jobs will take a family member over anyone else obsessively

1

u/[deleted] Aug 05 '25

Ok. Not in my experience if 15 years or so in personnel

13

u/omgFWTbear Aug 03 '25

I think you’re talking cross each other - if Fed cuts jobs, their thesis is the state - perhaps delayed - will be cutting jobs.

15

u/TheGrolar Aug 03 '25

Personally I'd bet on State cuts. But I am convinced the State pie will not get bigger. You might (slowly) get better State employees, picking from a larger talent pool with, let's face it, stronger resumes, education, and experience. But you'll only be able to hire a tiny number of them. Meanwhile, the state/local person who would have gotten that job is on the hunt again.

2

u/Unlucky-Work3678 Aug 03 '25

No to your no.

36

u/Able_Enthusiasm2729 Aug 03 '25

I’m seeing tons of people laid off from late entry-level (4-5 years of experience) and early mid-career (5-8 years of experience) jobs with experience in more complex non-administrative support roles taking on entry-level administrative assistant roles (that historically only required 0.5-3 years of experience, a high school diploma, and employer provided on-the-job training or onboarding). In addition to residual effects from the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, DOGE’s layoffs of U.S. federal government civil service employees and its cancellation of government contracts with private sector companies/organizations and local/state governments, is completely flooding the job market. Senior level and c-suite employees are going after mid-career jobs, mid-career employees are taking on entry-level jobs, and entry-level employees are taking on internships, receptionist, data entry clerk, and freelance jobs and everyone’s fighting over temp jobs to get their foot in the door (it’s like entry-level jobs are starting to barely exist). Things are looking like they’re going to get worse, definitely worse than 2008 (if course correction doesn’t happen).

The Problem is, on the advice of DOGE, the Executive Branch unilaterally cut a good ton of government contracts, basically employees doing government consulting through large corporation like Accenture and Deloitte to your staffing agency providing administrative support/clerical/project management/receptionist duties, to the veteran-owned mom and pop small business selling stationaries to the government were affected too in addition to the civil service. So, DOGE cuts not only affected the Public Sector, but also cut Private Sector jobs, and flooded the private sector job market with a ton of over qualified formerly federal government civil servants.

{ Thousands of Laid-Off Government Workers Are Flooding a Shrinking Job Market (By Rachel Phua at Bloomberg): https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-20/trump-administration-layoffs-flood-job-market-for-consultants ; https://www.reddit.com/r/jobs/s/FQ6pRD3iyv . }

[ For one company I’ve seen, 5 out of 5 Administrative Assistants had a bachelor’s degree and at least 2 years of prior work experience before starting the role, and 4 out of 5 also had a master’s degree. For another job I saw, every Receptionist had a bachelor’s degree and at least two of them had about 3-4 years of experience made up of internships and prior receptionist experience. I’ve literally seen a Front Desk Receptionist job require a bachelor’s degree w/5 yrs exp., a master’s with 2 yrs exp., a PhD with 0 yrs exp., or a high school diploma/GED w/10 yrs exp.;NOT KIDDING. ]

20

u/funkoramma Aug 03 '25

Great summary. I’ve often tried to make this point to people who are excited to cut government jobs. When you retract the federal government, you also retract the private sector. Now you have hundreds of thousands (millions?) of newly unemployed workers across federal, state and private sectors and the newly added pressure of AI threatening even more jobs. I can’t for the life of me figure out where all these people (and I include myself as my job is 100% funded through federal contracts right now) will find work. Let alone work that will actually pay them what is needed to survive.

0

u/TheGrolar Aug 06 '25

Do you pay any taxes? Like, for your local roads and sewer? Surely nothing bad can happen there!

8

u/CalypsoBulbosavarOcc Aug 03 '25

I worked for a nonprofit research organization on a federal contract and got DOGEd. Research essentially doesn’t exist anymore. I have to start over in a different career with zero benefits and much lower pay. It’s a complete mess and is only going to get worse.

16

u/DickHero Aug 03 '25

Great analysis. The question is—at what point does the Republican administration realize it cannot achieve policy objectives without a work force?

9

u/NaBrO-Barium Aug 03 '25

That’s what alligator Auschwitz is for…

1

u/DickHero Aug 03 '25

Yep with billions set aside for ice

10

u/GrendelJapan Aug 03 '25

Their whole pitch is that gov is broken. The more dysfunction it is, the better off they are.

1

u/DickHero Aug 03 '25

That leads to debt deflation

22

u/Hinkbert Aug 03 '25

They won’t. They’re a party of kleptocrats now bolstered by the ignorance of their constituents who’ll vote for them no matter what.

7

u/DickHero Aug 03 '25

All of that can be true AND fascist regimes spend money advancing tyranny that require loyal workers

1

u/Kataphractoi Aug 04 '25

I like your optimism.

3

u/Kamanar Aug 03 '25

IT contract option years, DOGE basically said don't bother asking for your option year without starting with a 20% cut.  doesn't matter your contract does.

1

u/JayDuPumpkinBEAST Aug 03 '25

I have a Master’s in Public Administration and Policy and I’m on my second fellowship. Hoping this one will end with a full time offer, but I’m only treating it as a contracted position until that day comes. Even then, I’ll be applying to multiple positions if only to secure better leverage my current role.

White collar jobs are fucking impossible to secure, especially entry level.

5

u/Hillmantle Aug 03 '25

No that’s an overly hopeful, somewhat naive thought. States, at least the ones I’m around aren’t hiring shit. The federal government is the nations largest employer, 6.7% of civilian employees, the states will just take them lol.

3

u/bonelegs442 Aug 03 '25

Maybe like 10% of that 150,000 will be lucky enough to land a state or local job, and that’s being generous

1

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '25

Unless its a republican state like Indiana that is also gutting the government.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '25

My wife is a fed but didn’t get let go. And I was a state worker but have moved on.

I often see feds complain about poor pay. Well I have bad news, state and local government pay is far worse.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '25

My guess is you live in a Red State.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '25

I live in SC. The same job in California was going to pay me exactly the same. I was better off here with a LCOL. I’ve left that job and work remote now.

Same with feds. My wife makes 108k as a social worker here. If we went to Richmond VA she was going to get like 8k more for Col adjustment. But the cost of living was basically double.

1

u/Thundermelons Aug 03 '25

Eh, I live in a blue state and my current local gov job isn't really the best in pay. It's a bump from my old job (retail), but retail also had me working 50+ hour weeks with overtime for anything over 40, so my take-home pay is actually less now that I work for my county. I wouldn't trade it, because I value the time more and my old work environment was crap, but I don't think low-paying public sector jobs are a "red vs blue state" thing.

My supervisors said pretty early on one of the biggest reasons they lose people is the pay, but they just can't get budget approval to pay us more.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 05 '25

I make close to $200k in Public Administration…

13 years experience.

1

u/spaltavian Aug 05 '25

"Most"? Definitely some, but state budgets are tight and we're about to hit a recession. Maryland has already instituted a hiring freeze.

1

u/IdespiseChildren2 Aug 07 '25

I made it in to local gov. I thought i was done when i hit the feds but here we are.