Not all laid-off staff look for federal jobs

Among the thousands of federal workers who’ve been forced out or taken buyouts in the past month, surely some would be perfect fits for the many vacancies in Pennsylvania’s state government. That, at least, is the thinking of Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, who recently directed his state to not only offer aid to laid-off constituents, but also to repost some job openings. He’s catching up to governors in other states — from Hawaii to Maryland — who see opportunity, even as they’re scrambling to help panicked residents.

The Trump administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency task force have been culling federal workers across agencies while also threatening anyone who doesn’t list in an email how they’re making good use of their time. The number of announced terminations tracked by global data company Statista exceeded 16,000 as of Feb. 25. That’s in addition to the 75,000 federal employees who accepted buyouts offered by the administration in its earliest days. And President Donald Trump has directed Cabinet agencies to continue mass layoffs.

States are looking to hire those workers, though officials face challenges, such as offering lower salaries and having slower hiring processes.

In Maryland alone, Democratic Gov. Wes Moore estimates about 10,000 of his constituents could lose work in the shake-up. There are more than 5,000 openings in state government. Pennsylvania has some 5,600 critical openings, from accountants to registered nurses, now described on a newly created website tailored to federal employees.

“This is an act of self-interest for the people of Pennsylvania, because I believe the commonwealth can benefit from the experience and expertise of these federal workers who have been forced out of their jobs,” Shapiro said.

Officials in New Mexico, New York and Virginia — among the states with the highest numbers of federal workers — say they’re offering a silver lining for all that displaced talent, providing ways to streamline the transition from federal government to jobs at the state and local level. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, made her recruitment pitch clear, stating, “The federal government might say, ‘You’re fired,’ but here in New York, we say, ‘You’re hired.’” Hawaii’s Operation Hire Hawai’i is working to fast-track former federal employees into state agency jobs. Washington state lawmakers have introduced legislation to prioritize these displaced workers in hiring processes.

In Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, launched the Virginia Has Jobs program — a website designed to help laid-off federal workers quickly connect with available state jobs. Despite these efforts, states face significant hurdles in matching federal workers to state jobs. There are differing skill sets, mismatches in salaries, and the time it takes for a job application to wind its way through a state bureaucracy. For workers, though, a lot of the difficulty is about coming to terms with the mind-boggling turn of events.

For Victoria, who asked that she be identified by her middle name out of fear of retaliation, working for the federal government wasn’t just a job — it was a commitment to nonpartisan public service. She worked for three years as a contractor for the Federal Aviation Administration before being hired last year to a permanent federal position. “The reason I wanted to be a federal employee in the first place is because it’s supposed to be nonpartisan work,” she said. “We’re supposed to serve the public in pursuit of a mission, and for the FAA, that mission is aerospace safety.” Her probation was to end in April. She didn’t make it. “I got a call from our office manager at 6 p.m. on a Friday night, telling me I was being let go,” Victoria recalled. She got her official termination email hours later, minutes before midnight. It included a list of resources she couldn’t access because they were, for her, suddenly behind a government firewall.

For people trying to assist workers such as Victoria, the scale and speed of the firings outpaced even what they figured was coming. Caitlin Lewis is executive director at Work for America, a nonprofit that runs the new Civic Match initiative to help state governments recruit former federal workers. She foresaw a need for the project following the 2024 election. “When we launched Civic Match in November, we anticipated about 4,000 political appointees and campaign staff seeking new jobs after the election. But what we’ve seen in the new year is a massive surge in laid-off civil servants looking for work,” said Lewis.

One of the biggest obstacles? State hiring is slow. “The average time to hire in state government is 90 days. In local government, it’s 136 days. That’s a long process for workers who need jobs now.” If states don’t act quickly, they risk losing experienced talent to the private sector, which moves faster in recruitment, she said. Many former federal workers are already transitioning into corporate roles, nonprofits and consulting firms rather than waiting for state job openings. Beyond slow hiring, another challenge is that not all laid-off federal employees want to stay in government.

“I’m not actually 100% sure that every single one of those workers who may be impacted is looking for another job in government,” said Nicole Overley, commissioner of Virginia Works, a state agency focused on reemployment. “Virginia has over 4,500 open state jobs. But I’m not sure every individual who is transitioning from the federal workforce is necessarily looking for a state job.” Overley added that many federal employees may not even be aware of state job resources available to them. “In the last 48 hours, we’ve had over 1,000 job seekers register for the March 5th virtual job fair,” she said early this month.

“I don’t know if all federal workers who are impacted know about the resources that are out there — and that’s where workforce development comes in.” Some states are working to speed up the process. Hawaii, for instance, has expedited its state hiring process through an executive order from Democratic Gov. Josh Green. In Pennsylvania, Shapiro has told the state’s hiring office to compare federal work favorably to state work for the purposes of notching experience.

Maryland’s schools desperately need substitute teachers now, Moore said in announcing resources recently, and anyone with an associate’s degree can apply. New Mexico is launching statewide initiatives that include a resource webpage, recruitment events and access to education and training programmes. In Washington, DC, Mayor Murial Bowser has encouraged laid-off workers to consider district job openings, but she also wants to ensure they have access to unemployment benefits and housing support. The federal government is the district’s largest employer, and the layoffs could devastate the city’s economy.

Another key hurdle is pay disparities between federal and state jobs. In many states, federal workers make, on average, significantly more than state employees. They include Maryland, where federal workers earn 183% of state worker salaries, Virginia (175%), West Virginia (163%) and Idaho (157%), according to a Stateline review of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics. In states where federal workers earn less than state employees, such as New York (77% of state workers’ salaries) and California (97%), the transitions might be easier, though the costs of living in those states are among the highest in the nation. For Hawaii, the challenge is particularly stark. The state has one of the highest concentrations of federal employment outside the District of Columbia and Maryland — and federal jobs in Hawaii pay about three times more than state government positions.

Robbie Sequeira, Tribune News Service