(AFP) – US President Donald Trump’s administration has begun laying off probationary employees as it moves to the next stage of its plans to aggressively shrink the federal workforce. The US Department of Veteran’s Affairs was one of the first departments to publicly confirm the layoffs, announcing in a statement that it dismissed more than 1,000 probationary employees on Thursday in non “mission critical” positions.
“The dismissals announced today are part of a government-wide Trump Administration effort to make agencies more efficient, effective and responsive to the American People,” it said in a statement. Although the exact number of federal employees affected is unclear, more than 200,000 recently hired workers are currently serving out their probationary period, according to the most recently available government data. The Trump administration directed agency heads to terminate most trial and probationary staff — who have fewer civil service protections — US media reported Thursday.
An employee who was laid off from her job at the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) told AFP on condition of anonymity that she had been fired during a video call to which close to 100 employees had been invited. The employee, and several other participants, were still serving out their probationary periods. All were told they were being let go for performance purposes. Shortly after the call ended, the employee received a letter from acting OPM director Charles Ezell confirming she had been fired. Her access was cut off less than an hour later.
Spokespeople for OPM and the White House press offices did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Thursday’s actions follow a White House push — led by OPM — to shrink the number of government workers by offering them eight months’ pay to resign. The email with the resignation offer, titled “Fork in the Road,” also noted that those who did not accept risked being let go in future culls. More than 65,000 federal employees accepted the buyout offer from OPM, the White House said.
One employee at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) who spoke with AFP reported accepting the OPM’s offer to resign out of concern for otherwise being fired. “This was my dream job,” said the employee, who was not on probation but who had been at HUD for less time — and thus had less job security — than many other colleagues.
“It just became very clear to me that the writing is on the wall,” the employee said. “I might as well take the best cushion I have to put myself in the best situation to take the time I need to find a new position.” A HUD spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
– Daniel AVIS
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