Since the start of the Trump administration, federal workers across the country have experienced mass layoffs as part of a broader effort to shrink the size of the federal workforce and cut spending. 

In the last six months, the Trump administration has employed a range of tactics to dismantle portions of the federal government. First, agencies laid off thousands of probationary employees. In February, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sent an email to more than 2 million civilian employees offering them to voluntarily leave their jobs in exchange for eight months of pay — some federal agencies later offered another chance to voluntarily resign before they finalized their reduction-in-force (RIF) plans. Entire offices and some agencies have been shut down as a result of these workforce cuts.

Amid a wave of changes and constant fear of potential job loss as layoffs loom, many federal workers found themselves struggling with high levels of anxiety, seeking therapy and medication for the first time in their lives, experiencing chronic insomnia, depression, aggressive outbursts, isolation and even self-harming thoughts, Federal News Network found in a new online survey. 

In June, we conducted an online survey of current and former federal employees to gauge how workforce changes implemented during the Trump administration have impacted their mental health. Survey respondents were self-selected, and they self-reported information to verify their status as current federal employees.

Out of 3,647 individuals who completed the survey, 3,294 were current federal employees, 175 individuals were federal employees who left federal service in the last six months, and 104 were contractors.

Of the survey respondents, 2,032 individuals, or about 95% of respondents, said they have experienced increased stress, anxiety and depression as a federal employee since Jan. 20.

“The impacts of the uncertainty and administration’s cruelty have been brutal,” wrote one respondent.

“It’s been overwhelmingly stressful. I already have anxiety from being a veteran so adding this to my life, I mean … I wake up having panic attacks at least four times a week. It’s affecting my entire life. Which means my family. My husband is trying to help but I cannot keep dumping everything on him. We also just had our oldest daughter graduate, our youngest just finished kindergarten. My stress has affected all of us and I hate myself for this,” another respondent wrote.

Other respondents said morale, productivity and effort are at the lowest levels they have ever seen.

Another respondent wrote, “I could get RIF’d at any moment. I am forced to compete for my job with my friend and co-worker. I never thought I’d like Mondays more than Fridays. Because the RIF notices go out on Friday afternoons.” 

Trump has publicly called federal employees “crooked” and “dishonest,” said they are “destroying this country,” and pledged to “hold them accountable” in a 2024 interview. Administration officials have indicated that creating a destabilizing, hostile and demoralizing environment for federal workers is intentional — Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought said, “We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected” in a recording published by ProPublica.

“When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as the villains. We want to put them in trauma,” Vought said.

Many survey respondents said they once felt deep pride in their roles as civil servants and a strong connection to their mission of public service. Now, for many, that mission feels increasingly unclear. In fact, many don’t even mention what they do anymore.

In an interview with Federal News Network, one Defense Department civilian employee, who has worked in government for 19 years following a 17-year career in the private sector, described their current position as “the best job ever.”

“A lot of people come into government, it’s not about the money, it’s about the service and the commitment and just the security,” the DoD civilian employee said. “I don’t think people really understand the significance of the federal government and why we do what we do.” 

But the stigma now attached to federal employment is unlike anything they have experienced before.

“I’ve just heard from other people saying, ‘Don’t let anybody know you work for the government.’ It is like we have a scarlet letter on us, making us feel bad because we work for the government. It’s scary,” they said. “And every time I’m thinking maybe things have calmed down, something will happen.” 

One survey respondent echoed the sentiment, saying, “The weaponization of words against us hardworking feds has been devastating. I am a proud civil servant, I used to proudly describe my job to those who ask. Now, if anyone asks, ‘What do you do?’ I do not talk about my job unless it is a high-level statement and then move on to a different topic.” 

Another respondent described how the loss of purpose in their work has taken a toll on their mental health: “The lack of mission has made me depressed. I show up every day not knowing the mission of the agency anymore.” 

“The lack of respect for being a civil servant with this administration is stress alone. Never in my 36 years of service have I ever felt this disregard as an employee. To be made to feel like you don’t matter causes anxiety in anyone. The fact that we were forced to make a life-changing decision to take your chance and stay or take the [deferred resignation program] was the worst thing I have had to go through. Then you still have to sit here and do your job to the best of your ability with always in the back of your mind wondering if you will be RIF’d after all the dedication you have put into your career,” another respondent said.

Some federal agencies have scrambled to rehire employees they previously let go — only to terminate some of them again. In some cases, employee terminations have been temporarily paused by court orders, but recent Supreme Court rulings have allowed layoffs across federal agencies to resume. But the administration’s push to shrink the federal workforce has gone far beyond mass firings. A government-wide hiring freeze, in place since February, has deepened the strain. Employees hired into remote positions have been told to find an office to go to — even when their entire team is located elsewhere. 

“The changes are nonsensical and show a clear lack of understanding of the functions, workload, challenges, and capabilities,” one federal worker wrote. “The level of chaos and disrespect is astounding.”

“This has been a never-ending nightmare,” another respondent said. 

In addition, out of more than 2,100 respondents, nearly 55% reported that mental health played a major role in federal employees’ decisions to leave or consider leaving their jobs. About 2.5% said it was the primary reason they left.