It's been a wild ride for the federal workforce lately. If you’ve been watching the news, you’ve probably seen the headlines about the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the massive shifts in D.C. Honestly, the numbers are kind of staggering when you look at them all at once. For years, the federal government was this slow-moving machine where getting fired was actually pretty rare. That’s not the case anymore.
By the time 2025 wrapped up, the landscape of the American civil service had been completely redrawn. We aren't just talking about a few people losing their jobs for performance issues. We're talking about a systematic reduction. According to data released by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in January 2026, the federal government saw 322,049 total separations between January 2025 and November 2025.
That is a lot of people.
How Many Government Employees Have Been Fired Lately?
To understand how many government employees have been fired, you have to look at the difference between a "separation" and a "firing." In the government world, separations include everything: people quitting, people retiring, and people being shown the door. But 2025 was unique because of the sheer volume of involuntary departures.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, wasn't just a suggestion board. It had teeth. Throughout 2025, the administration successfully targeted a net reduction of about 249,000 positions. While many of those were "voluntary" resignations or buyouts, a massive chunk came from direct terminations and the expiration of appointments.
Check out how these numbers hit different agencies:
The Department of Defense (DOD) took the biggest hit in terms of raw numbers. They lost over 61,000 employees. That’s a massive drain on the global defense supply chain, especially within the Defense Logistics Agency.
✨ Don't miss: Economics Related News Articles: What the 2026 Headlines Actually Mean for Your Wallet
Then you have the VA. The Department of Veterans Affairs saw roughly 30,000 separations. In December 2025 alone, they abruptly cut 35,000 jobs, many of which were related to healthcare services. It's been a chaotic year for veterans trying to get appointments, and these cuts are a huge reason why.
The IRS didn't escape either. They lost 26,411 workers, which is about 27% of their total workforce from just a year prior. If you're wondering why your tax return is taking forever, there's your answer.
The Impact of "Schedule F" and Probationary Firings
One of the biggest tools used to increase the number of fired employees was the reinstatement of Schedule F. Basically, this reclassified thousands of career civil servants as "at-will" employees. It stripped away the civil service protections that usually make it hard to fire a government worker.
In the first 100 days of 2025, the administration moved fast. They leaned heavily on "Probationary Period Terminations."
- Small Business Administration: 720 people gone in February.
- Department of Agriculture: 5,600 people fired in March.
- Department of Education: Nearly 1,950 positions cut (about 46% of their staff).
It wasn't just about performance. It was about "right-sizing."
Maryland and Virginia felt the brunt of this more than anywhere else. Maryland lost nearly 25,000 federal jobs in 2025. Virginia wasn't far behind, seeing a net decline of 23,500 civilian federal jobs through November 2025. For Virginia, that wiped out six years of job growth in just eleven months.
🔗 Read more: Why a Man Hits Girl for Bullying Incidents Go Viral and What They Reveal About Our Breaking Point
Why This Matters for the Average Citizen
You might think, "Hey, a smaller government sounds like a win for my wallet." And maybe it is in the long run. But in the short term, the "how many government employees have been fired" question leads to a much more practical one: "Who is doing the work now?"
The Partnership for Public Service has been tracking what they call the "Federal Harms Tracker." They’ve pointed out that while the administration claims these cuts save billions, the actual savings from the DOGE-led cuts might be less than $2 billion—which is less than 1% of what they originally predicted. Meanwhile, the loss of institutional knowledge is huge.
For instance, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) lost hundreds of employees, including flight directors for the Hurricane Hunter program and National Weather Service scientists. These are the people who track floods and maintain radar systems. When those people are fired, the tech doesn't just run itself.
The Shift in Union Power and Remote Work
It's not just about the firings; it's about the environment for those who stayed. Union representation in the federal government plummeted. It went from 57% to about 38% in a single year. That's because of executive orders that revoked representation rights across dozens of agencies.
And if you liked working from home, 2025 was a brutal wake-up call. Agencies reported a 75% decrease in telework hours. On day one, the order was clear: get back to the office or get out. This "return to office" mandate actually caused a lot of the "voluntary" departures. People who had moved away or built lives around remote work simply couldn't comply, so they quit. OPM data shows that over 154,000 people took buyouts or resigned voluntarily during this period.
What Happens Next?
So, where do we go from here? The federal workforce is currently at a decade low. As of January 2026, there are about 2,084,618 federal civilian employees, down from over 2.3 million in late 2024.
💡 You might also like: Why are US flags at half staff today and who actually makes that call?
The administration isn't done. Leaked emails from FEMA suggest a draft plan to terminate more than 10,000 more positions in 2026. They want to cut that specific staff by half. However, Congress is starting to push back. The 2026 budget request is facing some serious hurdles, and many of the RIFs (Reductions in Force) are currently tied up in court.
If you are a federal employee or looking to become one, the rules have changed. The "job for life" mentality is officially dead.
Actionable Insights for Federal Workers and Contractors
If you're navigating this new reality, you need to be proactive.
1. Document Everything: If you're still in the system, keep meticulous records of your performance reviews and contributions. With the expansion of at-will employment, your "career" status isn't the shield it used to be.
2. Watch the Courts: Many of the 2025 firings are being challenged. Groups like the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) are fighting the Schedule F reclassifications. If you were part of a mass layoff, stay in touch with your union or a legal advisor specializing in federal employment law.
3. Diversify Your Skills: The agencies seeing the most stability are those with highly specialized, technical roles that are hard to automate or "streamline." If you're in a general administrative role, look into upskilling in data management or AI oversight, as the administration is leaning heavily into those areas to replace lost manpower.
4. Prepare for 2026 Budget Cuts: The proposed 2026 budget suggests an 80% cut to NIOSH and significant hits to HHS. If you work in health or environmental sectors, now is the time to update your resume and look at private sector pivots.
The era of the "unfireable" government worker is over. Whether that's a good thing for the country is still a heated debate, but for the 300,000+ people who left the payroll last year, the reality is already here.