Sept. 4 (UPI) -- For many Americans, work is not just about earning a paycheck. It is a centerpiece of their lives, and they want their job to be meaningful.
Decades of research suggest this is true for most federal civil servants, who aim to serve not only their organizations and their missions, but also the public and the nation. Over the course of President Donald Trump's first administration, from 2017-21, we spoke with dozens of federal civil servants. They described their jobs as a calling aligned with their ideals -- to serve the government, uphold democracy and serve the public.
Turbulent change during Trump's first term, however, tested many workers. Over a quarter of the civil servants we spoke with ultimately left the federal government.
Since the start of his second term, Trump has attempted a far more sweeping overhaul of the federal bureaucracy. More than 50,000 federal workers have been fired or targeted for layoffs. The U.S. Agency for International Development was shuttered, for example, and more than 80% of employees have been fired from AmeriCorps and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Another 154,000 federal workers accepted the government's buyout offers, which are structured as "deferred resignations."
