The Donald Trump administration has begun resorting to massive layoffs in the US federal agencies, firing almost all probationary employees. This comes amid push by Elon Musk who is heading the newly created Department of Government Efficiency.
The Office of Personnel Management, which is the human resources department of the US government, has issued orders to remove probationary workers. Ironically, the Office of Personnel Management also saw workers being laid off in the process.
Why is Trump administration firing Federal employees?
The decision to lay off probationary workers comes as part of the the Trump administration's policy to downsize the size of the federal workforce. President Trump signed the executive order approving the layoffs on Tuesday.
These include employees working in the departments like education, nuclear weapons and small business grants. Notably, the US government is the country's largest employer. Others included researchers in the Department of Veteran Affairs who were working on cancer treatment, drug addiction etc.
No notice or severance
These probationary workers have been on the job for less than a year and do not have civil service protection. The probationary period generally ranges from one to two years.
As of March 2024, the US had 2.2 lakh federal workers with less than a year of service. A further 2.88 lakh people had an experience of one to two years. These workers can be fired without any prior notice or severance pay.
Only 75,000 of the federal workers had accepted the option of voluntary buyout.
The National Treasury Employees Union along with other bodies filed a lawsuit against "unlawful terminations" by the Trump administration. NTEU president Doreen Greenwald said firing workers who have trained extensively will have a "devastating impact" on operations of agencies and the government.
