Okay

Splain it to me like I'm 5.

Best i can tell is that he's worked for the feds most his life, is trying to adopt some kids but won't be able to for 1 of 2 reasons, or both- the dems shut down the govt or doge fires him and/or shuts down his dept

Run that whole mess of sentences through ChatGPT and see if it can clear that mess up. Then repost

I don't think anyone is 'rooting against' federal workers. Most are rooting for the bloated federal government to be trimmed down to the actual constitutional authority it has. We need an efficient government, and what is in DC is the complete opposite of efficient.

I'm sorry to hear that your plans of fostering children, which is a noble undertaking that I applaud you for, is in jeopardy due to potential job loss.

But it sounds like you have been in government for several decades and this is your first time to think that your job may be in jeopardy. Those of us in the private sector have dealt with that reality several times over in the last couple of decades. Try being in a start up that has 3 RIFs in under 6 months, or O&G when oil prices tank, or in a company you plan on making a career out of getting bought by a multi national.

Fear of losing your job sucks, but the private sector deals with it all the time. I'm sure most federal workers will find a spot somewhere

He is trying to highlight the human element in these layoffs.

OP - I am sorry you are going through this and that it is affecting your family planning. This happens in the private sector all the time. I empathize with your story because early in my career I adopted children from foster care and got laid off that same year. You will get through this.

As an Army and Iraq war veteran, I understand your personal concern and very much wish for the best for you and your family, but these issues happen in the private sector when there is an economic downtown or restructuring. In July 2018, I was laid off from Enterprise Products in Houston after working there for just 13 months, and that was my first full-time job after serving in the Army and graduating from Texas A&M in May 2017. I spent about 4.5 months looking for my next job before finally securing a full-time offer in late November 2018. Since January 2019, I have been working at TxDOT in Austin.

Best of luck to your future!

Long time oil and gas guy here.

The last president told us he wanted to put my industry out of business. I have kids, family, all of whom depend on my income.

Where were you then?

I'm rooting against graft and corruption. And lifetime jobs without competition. And for a much more limited government that is accountable to the people who are forced to pay for it.

I understand there is anxiety involved in change and the upheaval in the family life. However, outside of federal employment, all of us at will employees have to worry about layoffs. I'm 99% positive there will be layoffs at my company in April due to a recent merger and have been on both sides of several layoffs in my career, including being laid off shortly before my wedding.

It sucks but I guess Bruce Willis said it best:

I was tracking with you until the last couple of lines and then it got confusing.

I thought what you were trying to say was that cutting the federal workforce has real life consequences. That the federal workforce is real people with real lives that have served this country in real ways.

I couldn't agree more with that if that is what you were saying.

Cutting government will be painful. Every family that has proper leadership has to make painful decisions when they have spent beyond their means for too long.

I hope every federal employee that gets cut will be angry, but not angry at people making grown up decisions today. Angry at all the leaders over the last 100 years that created a fantasy world with a federal government grown to be all things to all people instead of being a government of 50 member states that spends the least amount of money providing only the services that the 50 member states can't provide for themselves, which is actually not a long list.

Rebel Yell said:

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He is trying to highlight the human element in these layoffs.

OP - I am sorry you are going through this and that it is affecting your family planning. This happens in the private sector all the time. I empathize with your story because early in my career I adopted children from foster care and got laid off that same year. You will get through this.

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I mean, are federal workers immune to the struggles of everyone else? Do they get some special privilege because they work for the feds? Should they get some sort of special security because the happen to work for an organization that produces no revenue except that from which they take from others?

Yes, it sucks to lose your job. I was laid off in 2012.

But, the OP sounds like he's got a good heart and lots of experience. He will be okay.

$36 Trillion national debt and counting
$30 Trillion accumulated debt since 2000
$2T ongoing annual debts

It's not personal. It's reality. Things must change or the damage profile only expands.

It's always bad when you are personally experiencing the consequence. Sorry - genuinely.

Deep breath. Know your skill set. Don't quit and reapply skills in a new setting. Always easier to say than do. I've reinvented myself since 40. Now 57. It's possible.

Ellis Wyatt said:

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I'm rooting against graft and corruption. And lifetime jobs without competition. And for a much more limited government that is accountable to the people who are forced to pay for it.

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100%

I have laid off way too many people over the course of my career to give pause to anyone that works for the feds or state that is losing their job.

As noted, welcome to the party pal.

Everyone has their problems.

Working for the govt doesn't, at least it shouldn't, place you in some protected class.

If anything, the very nature of federal employment should be even more potentially volatile than the private sector. The private sector spends their money. The public sector spends our money.

DrEvazanPhD said:

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Long time oil and gas guy here.

The last president told us he wanted to put my industry out of business. I have kids, family, all of whom depend on my income.

Where were you then?

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DrEvazanPhD said:

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Long time oil and gas guy here.

The last president told us he wanted to put my industry out of business. I have kids, family, all of whom depend on my income.

Where were you then?

---

gkaggie08 said:

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I don't think anyone is 'rooting against' federal workers. Most are rooting for the bloated federal government to be trimmed down to the actual constitutional authority it has. We need an efficient government, and what is in DC is the complete opposite of efficient.

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I root against the career federal employees who are in it to fly under the radar until they can get their pension, and do more to enable big bloated gov rather than reduce it.

This covers a significant portion of career federal workers in my opinion.

Tough crowd..TexAgs tough, hardened by lousy football.

No one , not one single person came to help when they shut down the economies over the stupid whoofloo, our company barely made it through 2 -3 years of plundering the small businesses… the government is obviously seriously over bloated with the workforce, DOGE is showing all of us this…. People will have some rough times, those laid off need to take the 8 months severance and get out there and look for a new job…. Giving people unnecessary government jobs so they can charge the rest of us more taxes is also bull cheet. For those that get laid off on jobs that are needed hopefully they come back and adjust on those types of jobs.

gkaggie08 said:

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I don't think anyone is 'rooting against' federal workers. Most are rooting for the bloated federal government to be trimmed down to the actual constitutional authority it has. We need an efficient government, and what is in DC is the complete opposite of efficient.

I'm sorry to hear that your plans of fostering children, which is a noble undertaking that I applaud you for, is in jeopardy due to potential job loss.

But it sounds like you have been in government for several decades and this is your first time to think that your job may be in jeopardy. Those of us in the private sector have dealt with that reality several times over in the last couple of decades. Try being in a start up that has 3 RIFs in under 6 months, or O&G when oil prices tank, or in a company you plan on making a career out of getting bought by a multi national.

Fear of losing your job sucks, but the private sector deals with it all the time. I'm sure most federal workers will find a spot somewhere

---

Layoffs in the private sector

Wife:
survived - 7 (one company did them every year)
Let go - 1 (2 weeks severance)

Me:
Survived - 3
Let go - 1 (2 weeks severance)

Average occurrence is once about every 2 years.

The federal government has become employee welfare compared to the private sector because they tax us for revenue. The federal government doesn't have to be efficient or effective and has no sense of budget or measuring output per dollar spent like the private sector.

I can empathize with laid off workers because I have been effected by it myself in the past, but both me and my wife and many friends have experienced it and found new work.

The federal workers need to realize layoffs are common, they are not the end of the world, and they are not going to die.

Also, most people are lucky if they get even 4 weeks of severance. 8 months is unheard of. Get a job quickly and you'll have one hell of a year.

8 months severance is like tech layoff package. Hell, I'll take 8 months severance right now!

PA24 said:

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Tough crowd..TexAgs tough, hardened by lousy football.

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Toughened by real life working in sectors that can't print money out of thin air and force people to give you money by law with little to no accountability in how it is spent.

Football is simply a short reprieve on saturdays in the fall that helps us forget that we live in a world where people get to vote that have no idea that eventually the laws of economics win out and our grandchildren's futures have been mortgaged by unaccountable politicians that have sold them a false utopia that will never come to pass. What they are really getting is world history biggest house of cards.

PA24 said:

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Tough crowd..TexAgs tough, hardened by lousy football.

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Remind me of how many federal employees were forced out of their job because of covid?

Give me a couple of examples of waste or fraud you saw in your department, including employees or co-workers who collected a paycheck and did nothing, and what steps you took to eliminate the waste and I will root for you. If you saw nothing or did nothing, then unfortunately you are part of the problem and why most are celebrating someone finally standing up for us, the American taxpayers. Hopefully you can respect that many of us wrote checks to the IRS last year for 6 or 7 figures and we are literally sick to our stomachs seeing how much waste and fraud exists and how this money was completely wasted.