{"id":293637,"date":"2026-03-13T09:59:53","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T13:59:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?post_type=short-read&p=293637"},"modified":"2026-03-13T09:59:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T13:59:53","slug":"federal-workforce-shrank-10-in-trumps-first-year-back-in-office","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2026\/03\/13\/federal-workforce-shrank-10-in-trumps-first-year-back-in-office\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal workforce shrank 10% in Trump\u2019s first year back in office"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Job
Job seekers wait in line to enter a job fair event in Silver Spring, Maryland, on April 16, 2025. (Roberto Schmidt\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The federal workforce shrank by 10.3% in 2025, or a net of nearly 238,000 workers, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of recently published government data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
Federal worker employment fell in 2025 …<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
Headcount as of December in each year<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
Note: Figures for new hires exclude people who transferred into publicly reported federal jobs from elsewhere in the federal government. “Separations” includes quits, retirements, terminations and other means by which people left federal employment, but excludes those who transferred to a federal job outside OPM’s publicly reported dataset.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of Office of Personnel Management data.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
PEW RESEARCH CENTER<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

Share this chart<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t