Trump Administration Cuts Federal Workforce by 10% in 2025

0:00On March 16, the federal workforce dropped by more than 10% in the first year of President Trump's second term. New data from the Pew Research Center shows a net loss of nearly 238,000 employees in 2025. That's the biggest cut in decades, driven by a push to slim down with the administration calls and oversized bureaucracy. Some agencies took the hardest hits. The Department of Education lost over 42% of its staff, falling from about 4,300 to under 2005. Hundert workers, the U.S. agency for international development saw an even sharper drop of more than 92%, down to just 370 people. Other cuts struck groups like the National Endowments for Arts and Humanities, AmeriCorps, and the Small Business Administration. These changes mostly affected white collar jobs, with a 10.6% decline there compared to 6.7% for blue collar rolls. Younger workers under 35 now make up a smaller share of the workforce, dropping from 18%

1:04to 16.8%. Meanwhile, positions tied to border security saw gains. The reductions followed a major overhaul effort by Trump allies to cut waste and realign agencies with policy goals. Over 300,000 people left through quits, retirements, or layoffs, up 80.8% from the year before. Now the administration is hiring selectively in areas like health care and technology, but the overall government remains much leaner than when Trump took office, matching promises to give taxpayers more control.