Trump’s downsizing has seen the federal workforce shrink at the fastest pace since World War II — how Washington’s ‘mass exodus’ could impact you

The article from August noted that this translates to losing one in eight federal civilian workers and is the largest single-year decline in the civilian federal workforce since World War II.

The bulk of the 300,000 figure is from resignation incentives — employees who voluntarily took an early retirement or resigned and continued to get paid through September — but it also includes those who have been laid off.

With so many leaving, it’s not too surprising that some of the government’s functions might be hampered and the costs could add up.

How the disruption might impact American taxpayers

From the start of the year to Oct. 23, over 211,000 civil servants have left the workforce through involuntary and voluntary workforce reductions, according to the Partnership for Public Service. [2]

“This campaign to weaken the federal civil service has targeted the very people who keep our government running and provide essential services that we all rely on every day,” said the organization.

With many federal workers leaving, the remaining employees are left to shoulder an increasingly heavy workload.

The Washington Post also reported on this “historic wave of retirements and other departures” or “mass exodus” in recent months “putting enormous strain on agencies as they cope with a new government shutdown and administration layoffs.” [3]

The Department of Defense, the Treasury, and the Department of Agriculture have seen large reductions to their workforce, with each department losing at least 20,000 workers since the beginning of 2025, according to the Partnership for Public Service analysis.

Beyond affecting services and workers’ families, this could also take a toll on the federal government’s budget, which ultimately impacts the taxpayer.

Many workers were offered lump-sum payments of up to $25,000 as an incentive to voluntarily resign. Additionally, the “Fork in the Road” program allowed federal workers to resign but continue receiving pay for months.

Many federal employees are also retiring ahead of schedule, which means the federal government must begin to make more pension payments, even while collecting less in payroll contributions from a shrunken federal workforce. Essentially, this represents another financial obligation for the federal government, which already runs a budget deficit in the trillions. It’s possible the increased pension obligations will add to the government’s debt, which in some ways puts the burden on every American.