Washington, October 1 — The size of the United States federal civilian workforce fell to its lowest level in approximately 60 years following a series of workforce reductions initiated during the administration of President Donald Trump, according to data from the Office of Personnel Management and analyses by government watchdog groups. By the end of fiscal year 2020, the federal civilian workforce numbered approximately 2.1 million employees, down from about 2.8 million in January 2017 when Trump took office, representing a reduction of roughly 700,000 positions over his term.
This decline brought the workforce to levels not seen since the early 1960s, when the federal government employed around 2.2 million civilians. The Office of Personnel Management reported that the workforce size in 2020 marked the smallest federal civilian workforce since 1962, when it stood at approximately 2.18 million, according to historical OPM data.
The reductions were driven by a combination of hiring freezes, voluntary separation incentives, early retirement offers, and the elimination of certain positions through administrative actions and budget constraints. The Trump administration framed the reductions as necessary to improve government efficiency and reduce the federal budget deficit, citing goals to cut the size of the bureaucracy. Key agencies affected included the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense civilian staff, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Social Security Administration, though impacts varied across departments.
The Office of Personnel Management reported that over 300,000 federal employees accepted voluntary separation incentives or early retirement offers between 2017 and 2020, while hiring freezes limited replacements for retiring or departing staff. Critics, including federal employee unions and some congressional Democrats, argued that the cuts undermined agency capacity to deliver public services, particularly in areas such as veterans’ healthcare, tax processing, and social security administration.
The long-term effects of the workforce reduction on government operations and service delivery remain subjects of ongoing analysis by the Government Accountability Office and congressional committees. These figures reflect only the civilian workforce and exclude military personnel, which number over 1.3 million active-duty members.
