States are rushing to recruit employees who were cut from the federal workforce under the Trump administration.
There is no tally of how many federal employees have been laid off or fired or have voluntarily handed in their resignations due to the Trump administration’s initiative to slash the size of the bureaucracy through Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
Estimates of cut employees range from over 100,000 to 300,000, and several governors are looking to hire workers searching for new jobs as they focus on filling open positions at state agencies.
Hawaii
On Feb. 18, Gov. Josh Green (D-HI) signed an executive order fast-tracking hiring for federal workers who have recently lost their jobs. Operation Hire Hawaii provides interested former government employees with possible job offers within 14 days of their application submission.
“As we witness the very quickly changing landscape of the federal government, federal workforce and federal policies, this order directs state agencies to review candidates and make a conditional job offer within 14 days of receiving an individual’s application,” Green said.
Green is recruiting workers to fill thousands of open state positions for engineers, technology professionals, accountants, human resource specialists, and nurses.
“We have a total, huge vacancy problem,” the governor told Hawaii Pubic Radio on Feb. 27. “Hawaii has 4,020 civil service vacancies and 1,005 executive branch vacancies. So we can hire a lot of people. We’ve already had 400-plus people inquire. … This is obviously an emergency situation based on what the DOGE has done at the federal level.”
New York
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) launched a “You’re Hired” initiative to hire workers fired by DOGE. Her administration has also created a job board advertising over 7,000 job openings in state government.
“The federal government might say, ‘You’re fired,’ but here in New York, we say, ‘You’re hired.’ In fact, we love federal workers,” Hochul said in a video statement. “Whatever your skills, we value public service.”
On Monday, the Hochul administration held a roundtable discussion with workers affected by federal layoffs driven by DOGE. The Empire State also expanded the “New York Wants You” initiative with a billboard campaign in Washington, D.C.’s Union Station and New York’s Moynihan Station to attract and recruit federal employees laid off by the Trump administration’s cuts.
“DOGE said you’re fired? We say you’re hired! New York wants you!” the Union Station digital billboard reads.
Maryland
On Friday, Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) urged his administration, as well as the private sector and nonprofit groups, to hire employees and contractors laid off by the Trump administration. Moore hopes to cut an often lengthy hiring process to 30 to 45 days.
“Now my background is, I was a soldier, and I know that in the Army they teach you, if you get attacked, you don’t just sit there and take it,” Moore said during a press conference. “You mobilize. And in Maryland, this is our moment to mobilize.”
Job fairs will be held in the state later in March, and the Moore administration announced it would seek to “recruit top talent” during a March 7 “Join Team Maryland” virtual information session.
Maryland has one of the highest concentrations of federal employees in the country, at approximately 160,000. Roughly 1,300 workers in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties have been laid off, and state officials confirmed last week that over 450 federal employees or contractors across Maryland have applied for unemployment benefits.
The press conference Friday followed an initiative set up by the governor’s office in February designed to be “a centralized hub for programs and resources to support Maryland’s federal employees and contractors impacted by federal workforce layoffs, firings, and changes to federal funding.”
“I know you are experiencing profound uncertainty right now,” Moore said in a video statement launching the Maryland Public Servants Resource website. “Let us confront this crisis with courage, navigate the challenges together, and emerge stronger.”
The governor’s office said the website has accumulated more than 69,000 views since it launched on Feb. 14.
Moore expanded the website on Friday to include a “Live Work Maryland Job Search” to highlight nearly 130,000 job openings.
Virginia
Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) launched a website to fill over 250,000 open state jobs amid the DOGE cuts.
Youngkin’s “Virginia Has Jobs” campaign links to public and private open positions and facilitates access to popular job search engines such as Indeed.
The website is part of his administration’s “Federal Worker Resource Bundle,” which is catered to workers affected by the DOGE cuts. The state will also host a virtual hiring event on March 5, as over 400 federal workers and contractors have filed initial unemployment claims in the state.
“We have a lot of federal workers in the commonwealth, and I want to make sure that they know we care about them and we value them,” Youngkin said in a speech announcing the program. “And we want them to find that next chapter should they experience job dislocation here in Virginia because we have that next great opportunity for them.”
Youngkin has defended DOGE’s cuts as necessary even as he seeks to ease the transition of former federal employees to the state workforce and private sector.
“We need to press forward and drive efficiencies in our federal government, and as a result of driving those efficiencies, I do expect that some Virginians will lose their jobs,” Youngkin said. “Americans voted for a more efficient federal government, and that’s exactly what President Trump and the administration are working to deliver.”
Counties across the state have set up their own initiatives, including Arlington’s Assistance for Federal Employees and Contractors and Fairfax County Economic Development Authority’s free weekly webinars for people affected by the federal cuts. Prince William County has also launched an online resource page providing information about job opportunities.
New Mexico
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) launched a website that provides former federal employees with information about unemployment insurance, job opportunities, and other career development resources.
“The state of New Mexico is here to support Federal workers, Federal contractors, and Federal grantees who have been separated from employment,” the website reads.
In a statement announcing the effort, Grisham said the state is “committed to ensuring that New Mexicans who have been abruptly dismissed from federal jobs have the resources and support they need to transition smoothly into new career opportunities.”
New Mexico held several recruitment events on Feb. 28 and aims to hold others in Carlsbad and Las Cruces on March 7.
“These events will feature employers ready to hire, including New Mexico State agencies, private sector businesses, and local municipalities. Attendees can explore career opportunities, network with potential employers, and learn about available education and training programs for career growth,” the governor’s office said.
AMY KLOBUCHAR SAYS ‘SHOCK AND AWE’ CUTS BY DOGE WON’T BE ‘EFFECTIVE’
Georgia
On Feb. 17, the Atlanta City Council adopted a resolution “urging state and local governments to expedite hiring procedures to absorb talented federal employees impacted by recent layoffs.”
The move followed reports that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Department of Veterans Affairs have cut over 1,500 workers. Both federal agencies are major employers in Atlanta. It remains unclear how many Georgians have been cut from the federal workforce.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
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