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The “Fork in the Road” buyout offer. Mandates to end remote work. Unexpected layoffs. It’s already been a difficult year for federal workers, many of whom are ages 50 and older, and the partial government shutdown that started Oct. 1 only adds to the challenges.
The shutdown furlough of as many as 400,000 workers brings another layer of uncertainty to jobs that were previously considered some of the most stable and respected employment available.
In previous shutdowns, most furloughed employees returned to their positions — and received back pay — once Congress passed and the president signed a new funding law.
Prior to this shutdown, the White House asked federal agencies to consider using the lapse in funding as an opportunity to start another round of layoffs. Current contingency plans for these agencies say employees will be furloughed rather than fired, but even that could leave some rattled about their long-term job security after months of dramatic change in the federal workforce.
A year of frustrations
Since 2025 began, federal workers have been forced to rethink their career options. For example, when the White House issued a stop-work order for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in late January. Wayan Vota quickly saw the problem when the White House issued a stop-work order for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in late January. His economic development work as a federal contractor for the agency trained him to focus on the numbers.
“I did the math. I was the one who told the company that we were going to have a serious cash crunch and that we were going to have to lay off staff,” says Vota, 52. “But still, when they laid me off, it was intense. I cried in my teen daughter's arm, which was definitely a wild role rehearsal.”
Like many federal workers who abruptly lost their jobs this year, Vota recognized that it's not as simple as applying for the same position with a different employer. No other American business does quite the same work that USAID did, and certainly not at the same scale as the federal agency. “We all have to think about entire new industries to move into, because our industry doesn't exist anymore,” he says. “And to be honest, the first reaction, of course, is denial. It's fear. It’s shock.”
While he determines what his next career step will be, Vota has launched Career Pivot, an online community of former federal employees working to support each other in their job searches. The site has garnered more than 12,000 subscribers since it launched on February 1, Vota says.
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