2025 Federal Workforce Impact
DOGE Impact Dashboard
A data-driven look at the historic federal workforce restructuring in 2025. Every number comes from official OPM FedScope data.
Net Change Since January 2025
-217,177
federal employees
2025 Separations
335.2K
+66.6% vs 2024
2025 Accessions
118K
-54.3% vs 2024
RIF Actions (2025)
10.7K
vs 46 in 2024
Net Change
-217,177
Jan-Nov (2025 vs 2024)
Key Takeaways
- 1.The federal civilian workforce shrank by 217,177 positions between January and November 2025 — an average net loss of 19.7K per month.
- 2.Hiring collapsed by 54.3% compared to 2024, while separations rose 66.6% — a double-squeeze that accounts for the historic workforce contraction.
- 3.Formal Reductions in Force (RIF) surged from 46 in 2024 to 10.7K in 2025 — a 233x increase — concentrated at HHS and USAID.
- 4.Sep 2025 was the peak month with 125.6K separations, driven by end-of-fiscal-year retirements amplified by early retirement incentives and restructuring policies.
What Is DOGE?
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was established in January 2025 as a White House advisory body tasked with reducing federal spending and streamlining the government workforce. Through a combination of executive orders imposing hiring freezes, a voluntary "Deferred Resignation Program" buyout, and targeted Reductions in Force, the initiative produced the largest peacetime contraction of the federal civilian workforce on record. The data on this page — drawn entirely from official OPM FedScope records — shows the scale and distribution of those changes across agencies and over time.
Monthly Accessions vs. Separations (2025)
The gap between the red and green lines represents the monthly workforce drain. September 2025 saw 125.6K separations — the largest single-month exodus.
Top 10 Agencies by Net Loss
Agencies with the largest net workforce reductions in 2025.
Most Affected Agencies by Percentage Reduction
Agencies ranked by the share of their workforce lost in 2025, relative to their pre-restructuring headcount.
25,469 lost of 89,881
18,624 lost of 72,049
16,960 lost of 75,134
6,855 lost of 50,718
17,192 lost of 156,678
21,665 lost of 198,448
8,904 lost of 107,415
11,427 lost of 146,609
14,826 lost of 205,643
22,812 lost of 451,121
Reduction in Force (RIF) by Year
Formal RIF actions exploded from 46 in 2024 to 10.7K in 2025 — a 233x increase.
Top Agencies by RIF (2025)
What Happened in 2025?
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was established in January 2025 with a mandate to bring accountability and efficiency to the federal government. Combined with executive orders on hiring freezes and workforce restructuring, it delivered the largest peacetime right-sizing of the federal civilian workforce.
Hiring Freeze: Federal hiring was effectively frozen starting in late January 2025. Monthly accessions dropped from 21.5K/month (2024 average) to 9.5K/month — a 54.3% collapse.
Deferred Resignation Program (DRP): A voluntary "fork in the road" buyout offered to all federal employees in early 2025, contributing to elevated quit rates in subsequent months.
Reductions in Force (RIF): 10.7K formal RIF actions were carried out in 2025, compared to just 46 in 2024 and 6 in 2023. HHS and USAID bore the brunt with 4.5K and 3.7K RIFs respectively.
The September Spike: September 2025 saw 125.6K separations — the largest single-month workforce reduction in modern federal history. This included end-of-fiscal-year retirements amplified by restructuring policies and early retirement incentives.
Year-over-Year: 2024 vs. 2025
Comparing Jan-Nov (2025 vs 2024) — average monthly figures.
2024 Average (Monthly)
2025 Average (Monthly)
Related Analysis
Agency Risk Assessment
Which agencies face the highest restructuring risk based on workforce trends.
Explore →Impact by State
Where federal job losses are concentrated geographically across the U.S.
Explore →RIF Separations
Detailed breakdown of Reduction in Force actions by agency, occupation, and demographics.
Explore →Workforce Trends
Month-by-month accession and separation trends across all federal agencies.
Explore →Workforce Deep Dive
Comprehensive analysis of the federal workforce by pay grade, tenure, and more.
Explore →About this data
All figures come from OPM FedScope separation and accession records (Jan-Nov (2025 vs 2024)). This covers civilian federal employees only — not military, contractors, or postal workers. "Net change" is calculated as accessions minus separations. Monthly figures reflect the effective date of each personnel action.