Image: OPM EHRI Dynamics
By: FEDweek StaffOPM’s newly launched Federal Workforce Data site highlights changes to that workforce since the Trump administration took office a year ago, including a net loss of just under 220,000 positions in that time, bringing the count to 2,085,000.
Almost 210,000 of that reduction occurred in during the roughly nine months of fiscal 2025 that the administration was in office, while the rest occurred over the first three months of fiscal 2026, starting last October 1.
Hiring of some 102,000 employees in that time despite a general hiring freeze—it has exceptions—partly offset the separation of some 322,000.
Other data highlighted in the initial iteration of the site, which replaces the longstanding FedScope site, include:
- 30 percent of employees rated under a five-level rating system were rated at level 5 in 2025, 18 percent at level 4, and 51 percent at level 3.
- reflecting a pair of executive orders revoking union representation rights across a swath of agencies—orders that remain under legal challenge—the share of the workforce represented by a union has dropped from about 57 percent to about 38 percent.
- eight percent of the workforce is under age 30, compared with 15 percent over age 60.
- of the total of 13.5 percent of the workforce currently eligible to retire—slightly below figures reported in prior years—the highest rates of eligibility are at SBA and NASA, and the lowest at Justice and VA.
Separations have been heavily concentrated in a small number of large departments, with the Department of Defense (also called War) workforce accounting for the single largest volume of departures – over 44,000 quits, making it the largest contributor to overall workforce reductions. The VA, also one of the largest agencies, followed with roughly 24,700 separations.
Other major contributors included Treasury (nearly 19,000 separations), USDA (over 11,000), and DHS (about 10,000). Together, these five departments accounted for a substantial share of all separations since late January. DHS despite a hiring surge among law enforcement declined in overall size by around 4,000 last year.
Mid-sized departments—including Interior, Justice, Health and Human Services, Commerce, and Transportation—also posted notable separation totals, reflecting a broad contraction spanning mission areas across agencies.
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