Brainfood Live On Air - Ep297 - DOGE, US Gov and the Future of TA & HR in the USA

2025-03-21

Download 246

DOGE, US Fed Gov and the Future of HR & TA in the USA We have to talk about DOGE. The US Federal Government is the largest single employer in the United States at 2.5 million employees. The intent of the Trump 2.0 administration is to radically reduce this number - by at least 10% in the first tranche - and maybe to end up with a workforce of about 10% when it is all said and done.

DOGE, US Fed Gov and the Future of HR & TA in the USA

We have to talk about DOGE.

The US Federal Government is the largest single employer in the United States at 2.5 million employees. The intent of the Trump 2.0 administration is to radically reduce this number - by at least 10% in the first tranche - and maybe to end up with a workforce of about 10% when it is all said and done.

This is unprecedented downsizing of government function, the likes of which we have rarely seen outside of active conflict situations. The role of TA / HR and People Ops in general is multi-faceted. On of the one hand, there are thousands of colleagues in these roles who will be impacted (perhaps disproportionately so?) and so might now find themselves abruptly on the job market. On another hand, as People Ops' pros one of the most important functions is to ensure organisational compliance with employment law - how can one do this when the organisation itself seems intent in ignoring it? Finally, People Ops functions have responsibility and duty of care for other employees, who will no doubt by overwhelming HR departments right now with requests for advice and support on what to do.

Brainfood Live cannot solve any of these problems but it can help shine a light into what is going on, so that we can better understand the implications and in so doing, find a way to best support the people most impacted.

It's going to be an open mic style show folks, so if you are in the US and want to talk part in this conversation, dial in. We're with Steve Rothberg, Founder (CollegeRecruiter), Mike Bruni, Partner (Talent Acquisition Strategies), Kate Bischoff, Founder (K8bisch LLC) & friends

We are on Friday 21st March, 11am PST / 2pm EST

Ep297 is sponsored by our friends at Greenhouse

Hiring is hard, and getting it right is even harder. It’s a core business-building function with high stakes that takes a lot of moving parts to see real success. You need workflows that accommodate how you function given your company size and goals. You need a user experience that hiring managers actually buy into. And you need an application process that locks talent in.

Only Greenhouse gives you all that in one platform.

Learn more

Comments (3)