Ask a Manager: Questions From Federal Workers Currently Under Attack

[minoanmiss]

There is no way I can properly copy this over because the links are numerous and important, so here is the link

https://www.askamanager.org/2025/01/questions-from-federal-workers-who-are-currently-under-attack.html

Comments

[princessofgeeks]

I was so glad to see that although also terrified and heartbroken.

I am glad the court ruled and the admininstration seems to have backed off it as well.

ARRRRRRRGH

[cereta]

My spouse is a federal employee. He has put in seventeen years of loyal, dedicated service, often going above and beyond (he was, for example, the only staff person who went into the office during the pandemic, and thus had to carry out all kinds of duties besides his, not to mention working through two shutdowns while his salary was help hostage). He's at the top of his pay grade, which means they could fire him and hire two newbies. I'm not saying this will happen. We're not assuming it will happen. We're just not ruling it out, either, and we've had several conversations about what it would mean to our family.

There are moments when I'm so angry, I can barely see.

[katiedid717]

It's definitely a rough position to be in. My sister is a federal employee working overseas; she and her husband had already been talking about getting back stateside after one of their kids was diagnosed with a genetic condition, and that conversation escalated after the election. I work at a major university in the northeastern US and she's had some promising interviews/conversations with the Capital Projects team, but now there are concerns circulating around campus about whether the restrictions with grants and funding could have a negative impact on the university. I'm really hoping she's offered a position here and can move back home, but I would also feel terrible if they moved here just to have to deal with layoffs etc (buuut at least there's plenty of family in the area who could help them stay at least somewhat on their feet. Well, except maybe for my nephew's weekly treatments but hey, little kids don't need to be able to have their blood clot properly, right?)

[cereta]

I'm so sorry your sister is going through all of that.

[katiedid717]

I'm sorry that your husband has such a complicated situation also, especially being so close tenure-wise to qualifying for a pension. My sister has only been government for 5 years.

[magid]

I'm so sorry about your sister and her family.

Just in case it's useful, friends who discovered their kid was a severe hemophiliac at the kid's ritual circumcision gathering found a lot of support from the New England Hemophilia Association (they also help with other bleeding/clotting disorders).
(I think I could set up an introduction if your sister would like to meet someone who's kid has made it to adulthood with his every-other-day infusions. I'm in metro Boston meatspace.)

[katiedid717]

Ooh awesome! Her son was diagnosed about 3 months ago, he was only 8 months old at the time. He's been getting weekly (factor VIII? I think that's his deficiency) injections for the past couple months (after a month of infusions) and seems to be doing pretty great! Her family is currently in Italy, but she's basically looking at jobs in New Haven CT and Providence RI, so if she does end up getting something over here, I will definitely share this information with her! Thank you so much

[magid]

I know that in addition to the regular stuff, their family really enjoys going to the Hole in the Wall Gang camp for hemophilia week, sometime in the summer. When his age is still measure in months, it's unlikely to be particularly fun for him, but finding other parents in similar situations is also good. And of course, it's more fun for him as he gets older.

[katiedid717]

Yeah, little guy has two weeks until his first birthday still - I'm honestly glad that the doctors caught it as a fluke before he was really mobile!

I was looking at the information about NEHA family camp, looks like the actual programming for kids starts around age four so he still has a couple years on that also. Also. But definitely looks like it would be a good organization for her to look into if she ends up back in New England.

[ofearthandstars]

*sigh* I've been a federal contractor for 22 years. I have a lot of these questions, and am especially feeling hamstrung by how my skills might translate to another job and the fact that I haven't had to interview or develop a resume in two decades. Plus, I love(d?) that the work that I do made a difference, even if it was slow moving. Being a contractor gives me a small layer of protection from the worst of the EOs, but it's definitely the darkest moment of my career, and I thought that was January 2016.

[magid]

My sympathies.

I will note that Ask A Manager has a lot of really good posts about interviewing, resumes, and cover letters (including actual samples to see how individual they can be); I found it invaluable when I was looking for my current job.

[ofearthandstars]

Thank you, I'll check it out further. I know I really need to set up a plan, I'm just...grieving, and in anger still. I often joke that I'm going to just up and leave and become a hermit, but we do need healthcare. *sigh*

[magid]

My sympathies, and I totally understand taking time to grieve before dealing with next steps. (I'm not sure that the anger will go away anytime soon. Or at least, I can understand if it doesn't.)

[cereta]

I'm sorry. If it helps at all, you're not alone.

[ofearthandstars]

Thank you. And I know that there are people scared for a multitude of reasons right now, and many more in immediate danger, so I'm just trying to hang in and plan for what I can while also trying to figure out to protect those who need it.

[affreca]

I'm a federal employee. I already had plans for resigning in March. I love my job and coworkers, but I have a better opportunity for more free time. I'm feeling guilty about being able to leave all the craziness behind. My office is lucky, we're part of DoD, so not in the line of fire yet - we can still hire and Elon has yet to try to pull his shenanigans at the Pentagon. Everyone's still in a tizzy, with management offering weekly meetings and frequent email updates despite so little concrete to tell us.

[minoanmiss]

Don't feel bad for taking care of yourself and your family.