The fallout from sequestration has hit the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which is laying off 356 employees in March due to budget constraints and a slowdown in federal hiring.
Some of the OPM employees receiving Reduction-in-Force (RIF) notices are full-time employees who belong to the American Federation of Government Employees. AFGE Local 32 President Charletta McNeill told The Washington Post that the government-wide spending cuts known as sequestration played a significant role in the staff cuts.
“Federal agencies cut their training budgets, so it was a domino effect,” McNeill said. “Training budgets are the first to be cut any time there’s a budget reduction.”
AFGE has been working with OPM to provide training to affected employees so they may qualify for other federal jobs as they become available.
For more on the layoffs, click here to read the Washington Post story.