It’s sinking in.

In the Trump administration’s first 100 days, a sweeping wave of layoffs and buyouts hit multiple federal agencies. Now, jobs that were once synonymous with stability feel uncertain.

In Maryland, about 1 in 10 workers is a federal employee. The Baltimore Banner has been recently sent a short, follow-up questionnaire to federal workers who shared stories in February about the “fresh hell” of their daily lives.

Two months later, a depressing and difficult job search is top of mind for many. Several discussed changes to their agencies after the first and second “Fork in the Road” buyout offer pushed by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

Most of the federal employees, whose identities were vetted by The Banner and who gave permission to publish their comments, asked for anonymity out of fear of being targeted.

‘No federal worker‘s job is secure except ICE, sadly’

Department of Health and Human Services, about 2 years

Is your job secure? I think my answer here is fairly obvious. No federal worker‘s job is secure except ICE, sadly.

Is your agency headed in the right direction? I really enjoyed my job before this administration. However, I have a lot of moral objections to things I’m being asked to do recently, leading me to feel differently about my job. I anticipate my job looking very different in the coming months, especially after the reorganization. If I even still have a job.

Has your workload changed? This is a complex answer. In some ways, I’m doing less because I am no longer getting any congressional requests for information on the grant program I oversee. On the other hand, other tasks are taking much longer because there are new steps added (such as identifying and flagging any grantee plans to conduct work addressing disparities).

On a job search: I have been searching for jobs, but the market is incredibly saturated right now. Every single federal worker I know has also been applying for jobs.

‘I had just received a promotion’

National Institutes of Health, about 9 years

The respondent’s job was cut.

On a job search: I feel pissed off because I had just received a promotion in November and worked very hard for it.

I live in Columbia, and I’m very nervous about having to go back out and compete for another position with thousands of other dedicated civil servants.

None of us deserved to get fired the way we were, and it’s wrong to pit us against each other for a job when so many of them were eliminated.

The headquarters of the General Services Administration (GSA) in Washington, D.C.

‘Our new acting administrator is doing everything in his power to destroy GSA’

General Services Administration, more than 2 years

Is your job secure? We’ve had a lot of early reduction in force departures. There are many more employees who are taking the “fork” buyout option. Every staff office at the agency is required to have at least 50% cuts.

Is your agency headed in the right direction? I loved working for GSA as we did many projects that saved taxpayers through disposal of federal properties. We had tremendous work being done to make sure the federal government functioned every day. Our new acting administrator is doing everything in his power to destroy GSA and make it an awful place to work.

Has your workload changed? TBD. I’m more than possibly getting moved to another team in my organization in the near future. Before this, my work had slowed down a little.

On a job search: Not great with the job market locally being flooded with many people looking for jobs now.

The job market in greater Washington and Baltimore has gotten a lot harder with this impact of federal employees being laid off or scared about losing their jobs. Maryland is going to be really impacted.

‘As a millennial, the job market has always been rough on me’

Social Security Administration, about 8 years

Is your job secure? I am in a mission-critical role. However, due to the constant change in circumstances, I don’t feel secure in my position.

Is your agency headed in the right direction? My agency is being led by an unqualified flunky who doesn’t truly understand the ramifications of his actions.

Has your workload changed? Yes. I have been asked to do things to cover for eliminated positions that I don’t feel qualified to do.

On a job search: As a millennial, the job market has always been rough on me. This time with more qualifications and experience is no different. Frankly, my salary is not being met in a fair amount of the opportunities I’ve found.

Honestly, I’m not feeling optimistic about any future job prospects. While I am still currently employed, there are so many people looking who desperately need a job that I’m not sure where to even look.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services headquarters in Woodlawn.

‘I have concerns about the shifting mission and goals of my division’

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, less than 1 year

Is your job secure? I believe the administration supports my specific division, and I believe DOGE officials also support my specific division, although I worry this could change.

Is your agency headed in the right direction? I enjoy the day-to-day tasks of my job, and I enjoy my work and my colleagues, and I find what I do to be rewarding. However, I have concerns about the shifting mission and goals of my division, which I do not think are to the best benefit of the people.

Has your workload changed? Yes, I have been busier. Coworkers took the “fork” and left, and many senior leaders are also taking early retirement. My daily tasks are busier, as we’ve absorbed the work of coworkers who have left, and I frequently work late hours and have absorbed tasks in areas I am not an expert in.

On a job search: I am not looking for a new job, but when I have taken glances here and there, I am concerned about the very small job market and if I would even have the ability to find a new job.

I am dreading the possibility of having to search for a new job. I think there is much higher competition for a shrinking pool of available jobs. Furthermore, I enjoy my job and do not want to leave — but the administration’s hostility towards federal workers is seemingly increasing, and I know there is a decent likelihood I will have to begin a job search soon. I used to have a 5- and 10-year career plan, and now I’m not even sure what things will look like in five months.

‘We’re losing so many extremely skilled scientists’

Department of the Interior, about 7 years

Is your job secure? Every week I come in expecting to be told I am subject to a reduction in force order before the end of the following week.

Is your agency headed in the right direction? We’re losing so many extremely skilled scientists that covering the work they do right now for the budget we have, while still paying them (as those that took the “fork” buyout option are paid out of our center‘s budget), is going to be nigh-impossible. The states and counties that rely on our data and science will be severely set back with delays on endeavors that relied on our work to continue.

Has your workload changed? The folks that remain will be overworked, have to make do with substantially less funding and be unable to reference cumulative institutional knowledge with the loss of such senior staffers.

On job a search: Not looking for a new job and actively avoiding doing so until they drag me out of here.

I am actively choosing not to think about the possibility of a job search at this time. When the thought surfaces, I realize how precious it is to be able to be gainfully employed to do science without a profit motive guiding our work, and how hopelessly rare similar jobs are on the job market nowadays.

The New Psalmist Baptist Church in Baltimore hosted a city-sponsored job fair for federal workers in March.

‘We’re actually afraid to take off work’

National Security Agency, about 11 years

Is your job secure? I found out that funding for my specific position is in limbo. It is carved out in funding that was approved last year, but it was set to be up May 1.

Is your agency headed in the right direction? I very much enjoyed my job before it was made political. We have to tailor our correspondence with our (as of right now) allies in a very specific and unnatural way. The directions we are starting to get on a technical level hint towards, ‘Get ready to do some sketchy things.’

Has your workload changed? Absolutely. Our project was set to expand by 3.5x over the next four years, and our team needed to scale with it. Now we’re actually losing people. We’re actually afraid to take off work, as we worry it might lead to termination. There is a member of my team going to be going on maternity leave soon who is worried she won’t have a job to come back to.

On a job search: I’m not looking for a new job, but I’ve crafted my resume to make my skills more desirable in the private sector as well. I’ve also been in touch with colleagues in the private sector in case I needed something. Unfortunately — not only in my specialty but all around — it’s a flood of federal employees trying to get jobs in the private sector, so it’s more competitive than people think.

I’ve accepted it’s a possibility, and I have two versions of my resume that have undergone the prepublication review process and are ready: one tailored for government work, and one for private sector work. Right now, despite being defined on my resume and LinkedIn as working in public sector-adjacent jobs, my mental health couldn’t tolerate staying in if I were to lose my current position. Every day I drive home in silence and stare at the ceiling on the couch with my dog for god knows how long when I get there.

Despite how it’s affecting me personally, I’m surviving, and it’s because I know there are people left like me fighting for what’s right from inside the walls. I know I should stay while I have the chance.

Update: At about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday I received a text message stating I need to report to work the next morning (May 1), so it was truly down to the last minute. While I am relieved to still be employed, I hope it is not a sign of what’s to come. I could pretend it was just a paperwork issue and things will be smooth sailing from here, but no reassurances like that were made, as my happy go-lucky manager normally would do. It’s above my pay grade but it still leaves me worried and wondering if I should reconsider resigning, despite promising myself I wouldn’t, for my future’s sake.

Attendees of a local “Hands Off” protest at the Social Security Administration headquarters in Woodlawn last month.

‘Anyone who dissents gets fired’

Social Security Administration, about 2 years

Is your job secure? I’m told constantly that even though my job is mandated by statute it’s not “mission critical” to my agency anymore so they can decide to get rid of us at anytime now.

Is your agency headed in the right direction? DOGE “fired” all the civil rights workers but really they just put them on admin leave and took their access so they could not get in the way. Anyone who dissents gets fired. We have a low-level bootlicker put in charge as commissioner who is tearing the agency apart.

On a job search: I’m not looking for a new job. I’m a veteran, so they can fire me, and then I will sue them.

‘I have been significantly less productive and motivated’

NASA contractor, more than 3 years

Is your job secure? Threats to science funding are thus a threat to the general health of the contractor, including support for junior researchers.

Is your agency headed in the right direction? My position will expire next year but is engaging and productive. My institution is following executive orders and policy directives only out of legal necessity/to protect its employees.

Has your workload changed? I feel I have been significantly less productive and motivated since the start of 2025 due to stress, uncertainty, etc. around the administration’s actions and actors. Expected workload “from the outside” (such as from a supervisor‘s point of view) has not changed.

On a job search: While I am not actively looking per se, I keep an eye out for positions for which I would be remiss not to apply, including at not-purely-academic organizations. As a career academic, the prospect of an “industry” job is intimidating.

Responses have been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.