Clad in a smart tailored blazer and trousers, Jacqueline Woodruff snakes her way through a crowd of hundreds of people. Like her, they also clutch resumes and pamphlets in hand.
“It's awful to be thrust back into the workforce due to no fault of your own,” she said, one of nearly 600 people packed into the Galleria at the Howard Community College in Columbia looking for a new opportunity.
Woodruff is one of likely thousands of federal workers in Maryland who have either lost their job or clientele as President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, try to slash the size of the federal workforce, in what they say is an attempt to reduce government waste. DOGE is run by unelected billionaire Elon Musk and is not an official government agency.
As of now, there is not an official number for how many Marylanders have lost their jobs due to the administration’s actions. The state is home to around 143,000 federal civilian jobs and Governor Wes Moore’s office estimates that approximately 160,000 Marylanders are employed by the federal government; neither of those numbers encompass the non-profits and contractors directly impacted by the shuttering of agencies like USAID.
Woodruff, who lives in Prince George’s County, gazes thoughtfully at the tables surrounding her, with representatives ranging from defense contractors to the Howard County Human Resources Office.
She was a year and a half into her job as a grants manager for the USDA Forest Service when just weeks ago, she got a call from her supervisor, who she said was in tears. The United States Office of Personnel Management had sent Woodruff’s supervisor a letter announcing her termination.
“The letter said that I had performance issues,” she recalled. “No one talked with my leadership about my performance. None of that is true. It's very upsetting to even be in that situation, because I am a stellar — or was a stellar — employee at every opportunity I've ever had. I've never had performance challenges.”
Probationary employees like Woodruff have been easy targets for DOGE and the federal administration. They are easier to fire “at will” — although technically the government is supposed to show that their performance is somehow not up to par for the job. But Woodruff was one of multiple people who spoke with WYPR who said they were terminated after receiving multiple excellent performance evaluations.
“I was part of the Valentine's Day Massacre, as we call it, unfortunately,” said SH, who was only comfortable being identified by her initials, due to ongoing litigation on behalf of terminated federal workers.
She lost her job in cancer prevention when her fellowship in the Department of Health and Human Services was abruptly terminated two weeks ago.
“I didn't receive any formal communication after the termination letter… not like, come back with your laptop and your PIV card, like, nothing,” she said.
She still has all of her government equipment.
But local employers are hoping a flood of new talent could be a boon for them. Deb Poquette, a community outreach director for Centennial Health, is one of around 50 vendors that rushed to set up a table for the fair.
“There are actually a surprising number of healthcare workers here. A lot of people from NIH, Medicare and Medicaid Services, things like that,” said Poquette.
It’s been a surprise for her to see how many people at the fair have 15, 20, or more years of experience. Some people have already been terminated and others, she says, are anxious that they are next. Erika Krause, director of physical therapy at Centennial, is hopeful that the company can keep up with government salaries too.
“Depending upon what the educational background is, years of experience, we would definitely be able to have a fit for a lot of the people that have shown up tonight,” said Krause.
Among the people that spoke to WYPR were scientists at NASA, staff researchers at the National Institute for Health, data analysts at the United States Department of Agriculture and more. They had either been recently let go or were worried about being next.
“I’m reading the writing on the wall,” said one worker, who asked to remain anonymous due to her continued employment with the federal government. She flipped through her eight-page resume. The counselors working with the Howard County career fair would be calling her soon to help pare it down, she said.
After working for decades in the federal government, she pondered doing something entirely different.
“Maybe I’ll try the school system!”
Standing in line for a free headshot, SH wonders about her next opportunity. There are many jobs in the federal sector, like hers, that aren’t easily replicated, she said.
“Global health, for example, that's not something you can easily find within the private sector. And if you can, the opportunities are so limited.”
A similar fair will be held at Morgan State University next month.
