There is no official count of how many employees have been put on unpaid furlough but 800,000 is common estimate—the same number used in early 2011 when agencies projected the impact of a shutdown threatened at the time that ultimately was avoided. Several agencies, including DoD, have held out the prospect of calling back employees to work should the shutdown continue on for an extended time. That happened most notable at SSA in the 1995 shutdown when that agency underestimated how many employees it needed and ended up calling back some 50,000 of them. This time, SSA is keeping all but about 18,000 of its 62,000 employees on the job and is continuing to provide nearly all services.
