Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free
A guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world.
Elon Musk’s plan to cut the federal workforce under President Donald Trump threatens to upend one of the most powerful engines of the U.S. labor market: government.
Data shows government and healthcare jobs have been the biggest source of employment over the past year, especially for knowledge workers. U.S. recruiters, economists and labor leaders say layoff plans will reduce the number of good jobs available as private sector employment declines, exacerbating already stiff competition for white-collar jobs. I am concerned that this may happen.
“We’re getting to the point where we’re not creating the amount of jobs we need to keep up with population growth,” said Corey Stahl, an economist at job site Indeed. With fewer openings in the federal government, “we [the labour market] Little by little it starts to get sketchy. ”
Excluding the Postal Service, the federal government created 2,100 jobs in October. Total payrolls rose by just 12,000 people in the month, as private-sector pay fell due to strikes and hurricanes Helen and Milton, the Labor Department said.
Although the federal government employs just 2% of the U.S. workforce, it has been one of the largest producers of white-collar jobs in recent years. The jobs of the 3 million civilian employees range from law enforcement officers at airports and prisons to health care providers and postal workers.
Government jobs have exploded in popularity as workers, especially young workers, seek stability following highly publicized layoffs in the tech industry and on Wall Street. Applications for federal jobs rose 55% last year, according to Handshake, a U.S. job site for college students and recent graduates. Andy Challenger of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an outplacement support company, said some people are looking for better health insurance and retirement benefits.
All that will change when President Trump enters the White House next month. Shrinking the size of the federal government is a cornerstone of the president-elect’s campaign, and he has appointed Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a cost-cutting effort called the Department of Government Efficiency. Writing in the Wall Street Journal last month, both men promised to encourage voluntary retirement by eliminating remote work options and offering early retirement packages.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, the government efficiency efforts led by Vivek and Elon have significantly increased It will target waste and fraud.”
According to the Congressional Budget Office, U.S. payroll costs cost taxpayers $271 billion annually, or about 4% of the $6.3 trillion in federal spending in fiscal year 2022. Government spending on contractors is much higher, totaling $750 billion, and union leaders say that amount will rise even more after mass layoffs.
Musk and Ramaswamy said they planned “massive layoffs” to cut spending by more than $500 billion a year. Musk has already started targeting climate-related jobs, calling out rank-and-file employees he wants fired in his X posts. All appear to have specialized fields such as clean energy or emerging markets. One of them, Missy Cummings, criticized Tesla while working at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Experts are skeptical that Doge will prompt mass layoffs, but job seekers are already looking to join the private sector.
Recommended
Leslie Mittler, a career coach who specializes in college students, says, “If people come to me and say they want to work in Washington, D.C., I’ll say, “Before you do that, you need to get things done.” Why not see how it evolves?’” of commitment?
But Jacqueline Simon, policy director for the American Federation of Public Employees, the largest union for federal employees, said current civil servants are preparing for a fight and described the atmosphere within the union as “rebellious.” expressed.
Randy Irwin, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, said government employees are “concerned” that they are aware that job openings across the country have declined by 11%, or 1 million jobs, over the past year. said.
When asked where his members would look for work if Trump’s plan is successful, Simon replied, “I don’t know.”
