The Office of Personnel Management is advising all federal agencies to fire their probationary employees after it stopped accepting new offers for its “deferred resignation” program last night.

Agencies, however, have final authority over the removal of their probationary employees.

A source familiar with OPM’s decision-making told Federal News Network that OPM met with agencies and provided them with guidance to fire probationary employees, with “case-by-case exceptions,” including as public safety.

The source described OPM’s communication to agencies as “soft guidance,” and that “agencies independently can decide how to move forward.”

An OPM spokesperson told Federal News Network that “the probationary period is a continuation of the job application process, not an entitlement for permanent employment.”

However, probationary employees in many cases are only supposed to be removed for underperformance or misconduct.

“Agencies are taking independent action in light of the recent hiring freeze and in support of the president’s broader efforts to restructure and streamline the federal government better to serve the American people at the highest possible standard,” the spokesperson said.

Probationary periods for federal employees typically last for one year. In less common circumstances, certain agencies and federal positions require two-year, or even three-year, probationary periods. Generally, longer probations are reserved for law enforcement officers and certain employees at the Defense Department.

While the federal government has not yet published data beyond March 2024, historical trends suggest there are approximately 200,000 people in government positions with one year or less of service at any given time.

The latest OPM data shows 216,079 federal employees had one year of service or less, as of March 2024.  The five-year average across the government is 192,774 employees with a year of service or less.

OPM asked agencies earlier this month to send a list of probationary employees, and whether or not they wanted to keep them. Agencies were given a 200-character limit to explain why a probationary employee should stay in government.

OPM also fired its own probationary employees in a meeting Thursday afternoon.

An OPM employee told Federal News Network that about 70 employees were in the meeting. Probationary hires with less than a year of service were called into a videoconference meeting at 2 p.m. — after getting an email notice about 15 minutes prior.

During the meeting, which included remarks from acting OPM Director Chuck Ezell, probationary employees were told they would be terminated from their jobs at 3 p.m. Thursday.

Another OPM employee told Federal News Network that probationary employees were told in the meeting that, the “agency finds, based on your performance, that you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the agency would be in the public interest.”

According to this second OPM employee, some probationary employees in the meeting received high marks on recent performance reviews, and in some cases, their supervisors petitioned agency leaders to keep their jobs.

“I worry these recent changes will drive away the young workforce as well as render agencies so depleted they will be unable to effectively carry out their missions in serving the public,” the OPM employee said.

OPM workforce data from March 2024 shows that over the past five years, the agency has had 144 employees with one year of service or less.

According to the first OPM employee, a union representative was not present at the meeting — and the meeting’s moderator disabled microphone and camera access for all employees on the call after someone asked about union representation.

In addition to firing all its probationary employees, a source familiar with the situation said OPM put all career employees from its communications team on administrative leave for a reduction in Force (RIF), leaving only political appointees.

“The entire comms function has been dissolved,” the source said.

OPM told federal employees in an email Wednesday night that its deferred resignation program has closed, and that any resignations received after 7:20 p.m. Eastern on Feb. 12 will not be accepted.

Federal News Network reported last month that Trump administration officials directed OPM senior career staff to cut the agency’s workforce and programs by 70%.

A slew of agencies fired their own probationary employees on Thursday, including the Department of Veterans Affairs, which dismissed more than 1,000 non-bargaining unit probationary employees.

According to the VA, the headcount reduction will save the department more than $98 million annually, which it will redirect to health care, benefits and services. The VA is the second-largest agency in the federal government — the Defense Department is the largest.

VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a statement that “these moves will not negatively impact VA health care, benefits or beneficiaries,”

“This was a tough decision, but ultimately it’s the right call to better support the veterans, families, caregivers, and survivors the department exists to serve,” Collins said.

House VA Committee Chairman Mike Bost (R-Ill.) said in a statement: “I take Secretary Collins at his word when he says there will be no impact to the delivery of care, benefits, and services for veterans with this plan.”

Senate VA Committee Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) called it a “massive waste of taxpayer dollars” to fire employees the VA spent months recruiting, vetting and training.

“It is reprehensible to target recently hired federal employees – particularly those who have chosen to serve veterans — solely because they have less due process rights and employment protections than other employees,” Blumenthal said.

The VA currently has more than 43,000 probationary employees, but the department said in a statement that the “vast majority” were exempt from Thursday’s firings, because they serve in mission-critical positions.

Most exempted probationary employees support benefits and services for VA beneficiaries, or are covered under a union’s collective bargaining agreement.

According to the VA, the first Senior Executive Service or SES-equivalent leader in a dismissed employee’s chain of command can request that the employee be exempted from removal.

Everett Kelley, the national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a statement that “these firings are not about poor performance,” but are “about gutting the federal government.”

“Agencies have spent years recruiting and developing the next generation of public servants. By firing them en masse, this administration is throwing away the very talent that agencies need to function effectively in the years ahead,” Kelley said.

Max Stier, president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, said the Trump administration’s mass firing of probationary employees “is yet another profoundly damaging action.”

Stier said probationary hires that have been fired include experts in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and technology.

“With just over 7% of federal employees under age 30, our government needs a new generation of workers with the necessary skills to better serve the needs of our modern society, he said.

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