The Trump administration has started laying off probationary employees as part of its broader plan to aggressively reduce the size of the federal workforce. The US Department of Veteran’s Affairs was one of the first to announce the layoffs, stating that more than 1,000 probationary employees in non “mission-critical” positions were dismissed.
“These dismissals are part of a government-wide effort under the Trump Administration to make agencies more efficient and responsive to the American people,” a department statement said.
Although the exact number of affected employees is unclear, over 200,000 recently hired workers are currently serving out their probationary period, according to the latest available government data. Agencies were directed to terminate probationary staff, who have fewer civil service protections, as part of a wider push to shrink the federal workforce.
An employee laid off from the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) reported being dismissed during a video call with nearly 100 other employees. They were told their dismissals were due to performance reasons. Shortly after the call, a letter confirming the dismissal was sent to the employee, and their access was cut off soon after.
This action follows a White House initiative, led by OPM, to shrink the federal workforce, offering eight months’ pay for those who agreed to resign. Over 65,000 employees took the buyout offer. One employee from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) expressed concern about being let go and chose to accept the offer to resign.
This restructuring was implemented as part of President Trump’s strategy to reduce government size and costs.
