People pass the US Department of Energy building in Washington, DC
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Federal workers have begun receiving layoff notifications as the Trump administration plans to significantly reduce its government.
The full-scale layoffs are not yet clear, but the first round cut is a recent employee who has been hired and still has probation status, according to multiple federal employees and staff who spoke to NPR on the condition of anonymity. It seemed to be targeting. He was not allowed to speak to the press and feared retaliation from the Trump administration.
Probationary periods vary depending on federal agency, but usually lasts 1-2 years. According to Government dataapproximately 220,000 federal employees had received less than a year of service in March 2024. This is the most recent period available. At that point, another 288,000 people were offering one to two years of service.
President Trump on Tuesday directed federal agencies to begin preparations and cited “starting massive cuts.” Trump and his advisor, Elon Musk, want to cut back on what they say is government spending excessively.
Compensation for federal employees reached approximately 3% of the 2024 federal budget, according to government data.
The Department of Energy began firing probation employees on Thursday, according to two agency officials who spoke to NPR on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the media.
Employees who worked in the federal government within two years were left without notice or resignation. Formal letters were prepared, but some employees had been verbally fired. According to one source, the Human Resources Administration (OPM) had proposed that energy department officials use a template that cited “performance reasons” as the cause of the shooting. Officials said the Energy Department letter removed the phrasing. The Energy Department’s press did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A probationary employee of the U.S. Department of Human Resources was also fired Thursday. It was fired Thursday, according to officials from the United States Federation of Government, representing more than 800,000 civil servants, including OPM workers, the Department of Education and the Small Business Administration worker. Other federal agencies. Union officials spoke anonymously with NPR to share internal discussions.
In a call from the Microsoft team with around 100 people, OPM staff said the reason they were fired was that they didn’t receive a resignation offer, postponing the Trump administration’s “fork on the road” offer It was said, union officials said. The offer gave 2 million private federal employees the option to resign while maintaining their pay and benefits until the end of September, or to resign from having warnings that their jobs are not guaranteed.
The affected OPM employees were given to leave the building until 3pm on Thursday, union officials said. AFGE officials were not given access to the building.
Department of Education probation staff began receiving written notices Wednesday night that they were being terminated soon.
At least 60 probation staff across the education sector have received notification of fire, according to union officials.
“This is devastating for me,” a staff member from one department told NPR, conditioning on the unused name for fear of retaliation. “When I took my vows, it was the most proud of my career.”
In response to requests to confirm the termination from NPR, the spokesman said the agency had not commented on HR issues.
Three GSA employees who spoke to NPR said that at the General Services Department many probation employees were called to the meeting and told them they would let go. Some were told there was a last chance to make the government’s postponed resignation offer, but it officially ended a few hours later. As of Thursday, many affected GSA workers had not yet received a written official termination notice, a GSA source said.
At some agencies, the notification process is confusing and confusing.
In SMEs, probation staff received notifications that ended in an email last Friday, but only to be told in another email on Monday that it was an error. Then on Tuesday, SBA staff received another termination notice. Union officials said dozens of SBA probation employees have been let go.
The firing letter, which emailed a probation employee at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday, appears to be the result of a failed mail merge, according to two fired employees who received the letter. Ta.
The resulting notification was missing personal information. [EmployeeFirstName] [EmployeeLastName], [Job Title], [Division]”.
According to Jasmine Hardy, executive vice president of NTEU Chapter 335, the CFPB union has identified approximately 73 “negotiation units” employees during the final probationary period.
Stephen Fowler, Jonaki Mehta and Laurel Wamsley of NPR contributed to this report.
