Alexandra Alper and Tim Reid
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Some federal workers have found frustrating and deaf scenes.
Under government-wide orders, staff at the Office of Personnel Management were shocked on Monday, and were welcomed by a bowl of candy, balloons, managers’ handshakes and people taking photos.
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Many people worked remotely for years even before the 19 pandemic attacks. Office employees, the government’s HR headquarters, said they can do most of the work remotely.
It was a remote federal worker 50 miles away from Washington (80 kilometers) to report work under orders from President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk to greatly reduce the federal labor force.
Six weeks after Trump’s second White House tenure, many are still standing out from the firing of colleagues as part of the Republican president’s drive to cut and reshape the federal bureaucracy.
The Office of Personnel Management is a very neurological center for government efforts to reduce.
On Friday, OPM workers who took over the government acquisition returned to their equipment and left the building for the last time. All of the recently-established employees of the agency have been fired and many other professionals have been sent termination notices.
OPM won’t say how many people were fired or acquired in total, but one source put that number at 650 of the agency’s total 3,300 employees.
People added that a bowl of candy was laid out, party balloons flew over, and OPM workers took photos and videos, including acting chief executive Chuck Ezell and chief of staff Amanda Scales were welcomed in the main hall.
Ezell has been the core figure in implementing Musk’s plan to cut costs efficiency.
A worker who was denied identification for fear of retribution said: “The person who met the camera from our faces and shaking hands had their names already been destroyed and devalued in all the memos and emails in the worst case of all the memos and emails.”
The second worker described the scene as harsh and the third described it as disgusting.
After Trump took office in January, Doge quickly took over OPM. It can carry the database with the help of personal details of past and current government employees.
OPM spokesman McLaurine Pinover defended the popular effort.
“OPM wants to ensure that employees returning to work at OPM headquarters are warmly welcomed. OPM is committed to making the workplace an engine of excellent public service,” Pinover told Reuters in an emailed statement.
Pinover noted that Ezell posted an article on Musk’s X social media platform on Monday.
“It’s great to welcome the staff back to the office this morning!” Ezel wrote. “Our federal workforce is the backbone of public service and I thank you for everything you serve the American people. Your dedication and commitment have a real impact every day.”
Trump created Doge after the intestinal federal equipment and spending, at least 100,000 workers have acquired or fired.
The number of civilian federal employees is about 2.3 million. Thousands of termination notices have been issued in recent days at multiple government agencies.
(Reported by Alexandra Alper and Tim Reid, edited by Ross Colvin and Howard Goller)
