As federal employees organize their employee files in a volatile labor climate, some say the numbers are off.
Federal workers across all agencies are silently preparing for the worse: termination. What the Trump Administration has made clear is that they are downsizing most federal bureaus with high rates of discharges.
In response, employees have been quickly and quietly taking measures they hope will protect them if they are hit with some bad job news. Insiders at several agencies told Ark Republic that they’ve been receiving and circulating strategies in surviving the current moment of labor uncertainty. One effort is to go analog when the Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) employs sophisticated technology.
“We are being told to print out all of our information before the computers lock us out,” explained an HHS staffer recently tanked in the mass firings at the Department of Health and Human Services. Like many, they are scrambling to obtain all files from their pending previous employer, which runs from program reports and presentations, to critical employment details like salary and time off.
Yet, as staffers stack their paperwork, some noticeable differences in their profiles. Federal employees in talks with Ark Republic said colleagues mentioned their work data has changed when they review it on the job’s electronic platforms. “With DOGE, they’re deleting out all of your information as if [employees] don’t exist. That means [manipulating] employment history, pay stubs and start time.”
Plus, emails expressing concerns about how the operations at federal offices are degrading have gone missing, or as one worker contended, “[are] disappearing into thin air.”
To boot, employees are given few options in the Reduction in Force (RIF) letters at the time of layoffs or firings. They can either accept the severance package or be given worse terms if they disagree.
Veterans, veterans with disabilities, and long-time federal employees with seniority were once given priority, but are now all on the chopping block without any mercy. Supervisors, along with union reps and staffers are scrambling for more insight to mitigate the situation, but obtain limited updates. Most scenarios, they are receiving reports at almost the same time as the public. Two, they must ready themselves for possible termination under a regime that has been purportedly fudging employee records.
As computer access will be shut down shortly for those terminated, that means years of being public servants—and in many cases, for communities from which they came—comes to an end. “A lot of the people who work in these programs are minorities, and a lot of people who receive these services are impoverished people. These firings will cut deeply,” told an insider.
