Fired After 50? 3 Steps Older Federal Workers Should Take Now

More than 42 percent of government employees are 50-plus

Kenneth Terrell,

AARP

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Published April 04, 2025

a moving person is moving a worker out of the office

Jon Krause

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 have 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.

Four in 10 federal workers are age 50 and older

With more than 2 million employees in 2024, the federal government is the nation’s largest employer. Many of those workers are older adults. According to the Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that helps the government recruit talent, more than 42 percent of federal employees were over the age of 50 in fiscal year 2023. That’s higher than the 33 percent share of older workers that make up America's workforce overall.

It's not yet known how many older workers have lost federal jobs due to the ongoing mass layoffs that began in February. What’s clearer is those unemployed workers are being thrust into an increasingly bleak labor market in which many jobseekers already were finding it difficult to land new roles.

These federal workers also could be competing against their former colleagues for the same job openings. According to a review of its job-search activity, job-listing website Indeed found that job applications from workers at federal agencies under review by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) surged by 50 percent in February.

The agencies Indeed looked at included USAID, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), among others. “Applications coming from workers at these agencies spiked by more than 50 percent in a single month, ending February at 75 percent above their 2022 levels,” the report said.

For many of these workers, finding a new job might not happen quickly. It often takes people age 50 and older more time to get hired, due to a host of factors including age discrimination and the fact that there typically are fewer openings that fit their experience or career goals. Understanding these factors that lead to layoffs can go a long way toward becoming more competitive in landing a new job.

Fired after 50? Take these steps

“One of the first steps is to accept to a degree this isn't personal, to understand this happens and to take stock of oneself,” Vota says. Coping with getting fired “is a unique process to each individual, thinking over what's happened, making sure that they understand and feel all the real emotions that are there. And they're all legitimate emotions.”

Applying for unemployment benefits, securing healthcare coverage and starting the job search also are necessary actions to take to begin dealing with being let go. Here's how to get started.

Apply for unemployment benefits. Workers who are laid off or otherwise lose a job though no fault of their own could be eligible to receive unemployment benefits. Those who resign or accept buyouts typically don’t qualify for unemployment benefits.

Former federal employees technically receive benefits through the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE). But UCFE is administered by the states, so the process of applying for benefits is essentially the same as it is for non-federal workers. The main difference is former federal workers will need to provide two forms their employer should give them upon separation, the SF-8 form (Notice to Federal Employee About Unemployment Insurance) and the SF-50 form (Notification of Personnel Action).

The eligibility criteria and application process differ from state to state, so you should start the process by contacting the unemployment office for the state where you worked, not where you live. Because you can’t predict how long you’ll be out of work—and it often takes older adults longer to find new jobs—you should apply for benefits immediately after a job loss. Depending on the state, you can collect benefits for as few as 12 weeks (Florida, Kentucky and North Carolina) or as long as 28 weeks (Montana).

The amount of money you can receive in unemployment benefits varies widely based on the state and how much you were earning in your recent employment. The Unemployment Benefits Finder by CareerOneStop, a job-search website run by the U.S. Department of Labor, can give you more details about the benefits for the state where you’ll be applying. You will have to pay federal taxes on any unemployment benefits you collect.

Figure out health insurance. Most federal workers are eligible for a 31-day extension of their Federal Employees’ Healthcare Benefits (FEHB), according to the nonprofit federalpay.org. After that period ends, former federal workers can opt to apply for Temporary Continuation of Coverage insurance. TCC, which can be used for up to 18 months, provides the same level of benefits the worker received through their FEHB coverage. People who enroll in TCC, however, will have to pay the premium amount the government had been paying, in addition to their own share. The TCC insurance also adds a 2 percent administrative fee.

Federal employees are not eligible for COBRA, the temporary health insurance option offered to employees who have been laid off from private businesses. Once TCC coverage ends, former federal employees may be eligible for Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans. Visit HealthCare.gov to explore ACA options.

Losing a job may also qualify you to be added immediately to your spouses's or partner's employer-provided health insurance. They should check their plan's rules on eligibility and qualifying life events.

Looking For a Job?

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Start a job search. Applying for jobs can be difficult because many employers use software known as applicant tracking systems (ATS) to catalog and pre-screen all the resumes they receive. That obstacle can be especially challenging for federal workers who might be applying for roles with private businesses.

“There are a lot of differences between federal resumes and corporate resumes,” says John Mullinix, head of growth marketing for Ladders, a job search website for higher-paying jobs. “Federal resumes are longer. They're, like, 46 pages. They kind of want to know everything that you did, every little responsibility you had when you were in that position. A corporate resume is a little bit different.”

Mullinix suggests that some federal workers may want to use a professional service to rewrite their resume. For those that revise their resume on their own, “you want to focus on quantifiable metrics, usually only one of two pages, and you want to say what impact that you had, versus ‘I managed six people, or I managed a team of 25’,” Mullinix says. “[Corporate employers] want to know that you were effective in whatever you did to drive an outcome.”

In addition to promoting skills they already have, some federal workers might want to build new skills before applying for private sector jobs, especially if they are finding it hard to land a new job. “If you're applying to all the jobs, you're following up, you're doing the networking but not getting hired, you might just not have the skills that are needed to be competitive now,” Mullinix says. “You might need to acquire new skills, or you might need to change careers into a less competitive industry. And that's not something that you should be afraid of.”

AARP resources Skills Builder for Work and AARP.org/work can provide guidance that can help you reach your career and job search goals.

As with many job searches, patience should be part of the process for many federal workers. Some might benefit from trying part-time or contract work while they seek a full-time position. “Most people will take three to six months to find a new job,” says Vota. The wait can be “so much easier if you have [an interim] job, because you're not under a lot of stress … I do counsel people to think about getting a job now, to bring an income so you have a level of income coming in, a level of self-worth, a level of focus. Then work at finding the job and then the career role that you had that you want to have again."

Some states are eager to hire federal workers

Federal workers might consider applying for roles in state or local government. In many cases, the job responsibilities could overlap. Several states already have launched initiatives to recruit displaced federal workers. Those states include:

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Kenneth Terrell covers employment, age discrimination, work and jobs, careers, and the federal government for AARP. He previously worked for the Education Writers Association and U.S. News & World Report, where he reported on government and politics, business, education, science and technology, and lifestyle news.