A year after DOGE, former federal employees are still looking for work - BERITAJA

After he applied to his 599th job, John Burg stopped counting.

Burg was laid disconnected arsenic a contractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development successful January 2025, aft a decades-long profession that took him to Thailand, Kosovo and El Salvador. He was 1 of much than 300,000 national workers and contractors whose jobs were eliminated by the Department of Government Efficiency.

John Burg successful Iraq for the U.S. Treasury Department successful 2010.Courtesy John Burg

One year, 1 monolithic spreadsheet of occupation leads and only a fistful of interviews later, Burg has returned to the occupation he had successful college, doing carpentry jobs for his Takoma Park neighborhood, conscionable extracurricular of Washington.

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“A batch of licensed contractors won’t do activity for little than $60 because it doesn’t fresh their system of scale. That’s my breadstuff and butter,” he said. “Little aged ladies, they request lightbulbs changed. I do worldly for illustration that arsenic well.”

John Burg volunteering astatine Village of Takoma Park, providing free repairs to the organization successful 2025. Courtesy John Burg

He’s built his business to see immoderate larger jobs, for illustration a neighbor’s structure renovation, but is making conscionable 15% of his erstwhile salary.

“I consciousness much connected to my section organization than ever. More disconnected from my financial goals,” he said.

And he’s not alone. Beritaja said pinch thirteen erstwhile national labor and contractors who were laid disconnected during the DOGE occupation cuts aliases took the “Fork successful the Road” buyout offered by Elon Musk. Seven are unemployed, 2 are re-employed but making acold little than they antecedently did, 2 person broadside hustles and 4 person moved to find work.

WellFed, an statement that supports erstwhile national workers, estimates conscionable 25% of their members person recovered caller jobs. One Aid, an statement of erstwhile USAID workers and their implementing partners, estimates astatine slightest 50% of their rank is still unemployed.

“Laid-off workers are now moving into a class that is semipermanent unemployment. The unemployment checks person stopped. They’re having problem pinch healthcare,” said WellFed co-founder and programme director Rebecca Ferguson-Ondrey, who herself mislaid her occupation astatine the Administration for Children and Families almost a twelvemonth ago. 

In the Washington, D.C. region, wherever almost 10% of the organization useful straight for the national government, and galore much for national contractors, these occupation losses were keenly felt.

“It‘s very challenging to construe immoderate of those accomplishment sets and that nationalist assemblage acquisition into the backstage sector,” said Catherine Baker, a erstwhile worker astatine a USAID implementing partner and the Managing Director for Strategic Partnerships and Communications astatine OneAID.

Even then, she said, “We conscionable aren’t creating capable jobs arsenic a nation, and surely successful the larger D.C. metro region, to sorb that workforce into the backstage sector.”

David Harbourt mislaid his occupation arsenic the lead information and occupational wellness head astatine the Food and Drug Administration Center for Veterinary Medicine successful Maryland past year. Now, he commutes from New Market, Maryland, to Kansas 2 weeks per month, moving arsenic a consultant. “The occupation market, peculiarly successful Maryland, is unforgiving now.... There’s a stigma being a erstwhile Fed,” he said, echoing a sentiment shared by different erstwhile national employees. “And that affects your marketability.”

David Harbourt told Beritaja that the occupation marketplace is "unforgiving now."Fiona Glisson / Beritaja

While he’s away, his woman balances moving full-time and caring for their 2 children.

“When you’re parents, you usually activity arsenic a unit,” he said. “But erstwhile you suffer that again, now it falls each connected 1 individual— who has a full-time job, who has to woody pinch your ain stresses astatine activity for illustration immoderate different American.”

Long periods distant from location person besides weighed connected Harbourt.

“My dada utilized to recreation a batch for activity ... erstwhile he was first starting out, and he ever talked about really it is thing that really affected him, because he missed being distant from his family,” he said. “And that was ever thing that’s stuck pinch maine and thing I wanted to avoid, if astatine each costs. But unfortunately, because of the quality of scenery these days, we each person to benignant of return our opportunities erstwhile they travel around.”

Many of the erstwhile national labor who said to Beritaja said moving successful nationalist work felt for illustration a calling. Months of unsuccessful occupation applications person chipped distant astatine their intelligence health.

“It’s tough. It’s tough. And slump is thing that is simply a changeless point to debar aliases do conflict pinch and effort not to autumn into,” Burg said, taking a break from installing committee and bead paneling connected a neighbor’s porch. “Balancing connected ladders pinch a nail weapon and holding lumber up pinch 1 manus and a nail weapon successful the other, there’s really nary clip aliases opportunity to beryllium depressed. You really person to enactment focused and conscionable get activity done.”

Bree Danner recovered retired she’d mislaid her occupation astatine the Centers for Disease Control successful early 2025 while walking to Indianapolis to opportunity goodbye to her dying grandmother. She’d worked various jobs astatine the agency for 9 years earlier yet securing a imperishable position successful overdose prevention successful August 2024. She was fto spell arsenic a probationary worker six months later.

Danner says being fired damaged her “feelings of self-worth arsenic a professional.”

“I request activity that feels mission-driven and feels meaningful to maine and is aligned pinch my values,” Danner said. “I’m passionate about work and helping others.”

Danner spent the past 7 months focusing connected being a foster genitor for an immunocompromised pre-teen astatine her location successful Atlanta. She’s spent her savings and severance and has racked up in installments paper debt.

Other national workers person struggled to entree healthcare and lodging aft losing their jobs.

Becky, who declined to stock her past sanction because she is worried that speaking retired whitethorn negatively impact her arsenic she applies for jobs, moved backmost to her hometown successful Kentucky aft losing her occupation astatine the Center for Drug Research and Evaluation. The costs of surviving is lower, but she took a large salary cut.

“I felt for illustration it was the only feasible, reasonable action for myself and my daughter,” she said, adding that she’s a azygous parent. “I’m trying to make the champion of it and trying to get my girl to make the champion of it, but I do consciousness for illustration I would alternatively beryllium successful the D.C. area.”

Becky mislaid her occupation successful mid-July but didn’t person confirmation of continued wellness sum until November. During that time, Becky, who is diabetic, bought 1 period of much costly sum done the Affordable Care Act for herself and skipped doctors’ visits, her flu changeable and A1C checks, she said. She was still billed for months of security she did not cognize she had.

In March, she became eligible for employer-sponsored wellness insurance, but her existent occupation ends astatine the extremity of the schoolhouse year.

“It’s still benignant of a rustle to … who you are,” she said. “I’ve been moving each these years and lend a batch and springiness a batch backmost to a spot that I activity and doubly successful a twelvemonth I’ve mislaid a job.”

Her neighbors successful Kentucky are sympathetic but mostly support DOGE cuts to the national government.

“They’ve been told that story, right, that the government, national workers are lazy and they don’t do anything,” she said. “And I consciousness for illustration the other is true. Not that the authorities can’t improve, not that we can’t beryllium much efficient, but I consciousness for illustration most— successful fact, I would say, each of the national workers that I person worked with, they return their oath very seriously,” she said.

“I’ve had a mates group say, ‘Well, it needed to happen.’ Well, did it? It hasn’t made the authorities much efficient,” she added. “It hasn’t saved the authorities money.”