Washington (AFP) – Jennifer Nikolaeff slowly inhales and exhales as she seeks “a moment of calm” at a free yoga class for sacked government workers in Washington, where life has been upended by Donald Trump’s return. “Many of us are trying to get jobs again, so this is just one way for us all to get together,” said Nikolaeff, 53, who was recently fired from aid agency USAID after 15 years of service across the globe. As dramatic job losses mount among government staff, a sense of gloom has descended on the US capital. Of the city’s 700,000 residents, 70,000 are federal employees, with at least another 110,000 living in the suburbs.
Civil servants and contract workers, who are often passionate about politics and left-leaning, look on distraught as President Trump and his fellow Republicans slash the government and move to shut many of its agencies headquartered in the city. Nikolaeff was locked out of her work system at the start of February. Two weeks later, she received a letter saying she was let go. Since then, “it felt like every day was going through an entire cycle of grief, from sadness to loss, anger,” she said. In the city that voted 90 percent for Democrat Kamala Harris in the presidential election, three times as many people filed for unemployment benefits in February as in the same period last year.
– Awaiting bad news –
“The energy has been sucked from everyone,” said Nick McFarland, a waiter in a Washington bar. While many have been laid off, others fear they are next to receive the fateful email. Staff are often locked out of offices in the days before cuts are confirmed. Some of those laid off are already looking for a new job while also fighting in court to keep their current ones. Those still on the payroll have had work-from-home options cut back or eliminated. The city “isn’t sleeping anymore,” said a headline in the Washington Post.
Elana Woolf, a mental health therapist, says she has seen the impact on patients. “A lot of people are having increased levels of anxiety, depression,” she said. “You can really feel the change in mood and the change in the environment.” In solidarity, some businesses are making small gestures for former civil servants and contract workers. Veterinarian services offer discounted prices, bars have special “happy hours,” and career workshops offer to help revamp CVs. “The job market is already kind of a mess, with a lot of high skilled workers flooding the market,” said Seth Commichaux, who worked at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for nine years before being terminated. “When I’m applying to jobs, it’s not unusual for there to be 1,000 applications on something within a couple of days,” he told AFP at a small protest gathering of fired employees.
– Shell-shocked –
The local real estate market is not yet showing an exodus of residents. But “there is a lot of uncertainty, and so many people are just shell-shocked by the news right now,” said Sarah Brown, a real estate agent who organized the free yoga session, adding that many people have frozen their plans. The city government anticipates a drop in revenue of around one billion dollars “over the next four to five years due to these layoffs,” Brianne Nadeau, a local Democratic representative, told AFP.
In a physical sign of change, a celebrated “Black Lives Matter” street mural just outside the White House has been dug up and removed. The capital’s Democratic mayor, Muriel Bowser, agreed to remove the anti-racist statement after Republican lawmakers threatened to cut funding to the city, which is under congressional control. Back at the yoga studio, owner Kristine Erickson says, “there is a feeling of helplessness among us. It feels like we are being punished.”
© 2024 AFP
