Staff of the Division of Well being and Human Providers (HHS) hug one another as they queue outdoors the Mary E. Switzer Memorial Constructing, after it was reported that the Trump administration fired employees on the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention and on the Meals and Drug Administration, because it launched into its plan to chop 10,000 jobs at HHS, in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 1, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
A surge in federal authorities job cuts contributed to a close to record-setting tempo for introduced layoffs in March, exceeded solely by when the nation shut down in 2020 for the Covid pandemic, in accordance with a report Thursday from job placement agency Challenger, Grey & Christmas.
Furloughs within the federal authorities totaled 216,215 for the month, a part of a complete 275,240 reductions general within the labor pressure. Some 280,253 layoffs throughout 27 companies previously two months have been linked to the Elon Musk-led Division of Authorities Effectivity and its efforts to pare down the federal workforce.
The month-to-month whole was surpassed solely by April and Might of 2020 within the early days of the pandemic when employers introduced mixed reductions of greater than 1 million, in accordance with Challenger data going again to 1989. It additionally was the very best March on document.
“Job minimize bulletins have been dominated final month by Division of Authorities Effectivity [DOGE] plans to eradicate positions within the federal authorities,” mentioned Andrew Challenger, senior vp and office professional on the agency. “It could have in any other case been a reasonably quiet month for layoffs.”
Nevertheless, DOGE has continued to chop aggressively throughout the federal government.
Varied stories have indicated that the Veterans Affairs division might lose 80,000 jobs, the IRS is in line for some 18,000 reductions and Treasury is predicted to drop a “substantial” degree of employees as properly, in accordance with a courtroom submitting.
The 12 months so far tally for federal authorities introduced layoffs represents a 672% enhance from the identical interval in 2024, in accordance with Challenger.
To make sure, the outsized layoff plans have not made their method into different jobs knowledge.
Weekly unemployment claims have held in a reasonably tight vary since President Donald Trump took workplace. Payroll progress has slowed a bit from its tempo in 2024 however continues to be constructive, whereas job openings have receded however solely to round their pre-pandemic ranges.
Nevertheless, the Washington, D.C. space has been hit notably arduous by the introduced layoffs, which have totaled 278,711 12 months so far for the town, in accordance with the report.
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