Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) employees are hugging each other after it was reported that the Trump administration fired staff from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration.
Kevin Lamarck | Reuters
A surge in federal job cuts contributed to the near-record pace of layoffs announced in March, according to a report from employment office challenger Grey & Christmas.
The federal government’s Furloughs totaled 216,215 that month, part of a total of 275,240 cuts across the workforce. Approximately 280,253 layoffs across 27 agencies in the past two months are linked to Elon Musk-led efforts to reduce the so-called government efficiency and federal workforce.
According to Challenger Records, which dates back to 1989, the monthly total rose by April and May 2020, early in the pandemic. It was also the highest march on record.
“We’re looking forward to seeing you in the company’s senior vice president and workplace expert Andrew Challenger said: “If not, it would have been a pretty quiet month for the layoffs.”
However, Doge continues to actively cut back on the government.
Court filings show that the Veterans Affairs Bureau could lose 80,000 jobs, the IRS is lining up to about 18,000 cuts, and the Treasury is expected to remove “substantial” levels of workers as well.
According to Challenger, the federal government’s annual tally announced that layoffs represent a 672% increase from the same period in 2024.
Certainly, the Outsied Layoff plan has not reached other job data.
Since President Donald Trump took office, weekly unemployment claims have been in a rather tight range. Payroll growth has slowed a bit from the 2024 pace, but still positive, but job postings have setbacked, but only at previous pandemic levels.
However, the Washington, D.C. area was particularly hit hard by the released layoffs, according to the report.
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