Mass Firings of Federal Employees Affecting Alaska
Anchorage is the most populous city in the massive state of Alaska, with a population close to 300,000 people. Of Alaska's 15,000 federal workers, approximately 8,600 live in Anchorage. (Photo: Paxson Woelber/Wikimedia Commons).
The Trump administration's mass firings of federal employees could have major implications for the state of Alaska and many of its 15,000 federal workers. "Many of these abrupt terminations will do more harm than good," says US Senator Lisa Murkowski (R).
The Trump administration has fired thousands of federal employees in the past weeks as part of the efforts to reduce the federal workforce, spearheaded by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The layoffs efforts are hitting the US Arctic state of Alaska, with potentially harmful effects. The state has over 15,000 federal workers, according to statistics from Alaska's Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
In only three other states; the Washington D.C. area, New Mexico and Hawaii, does the percentage of federal workers exceed 2.5 percent of the overall workforce, Anchorage Daily News writes, citing data from the Pew Research Center.
There is still much uncertainty as to how many federal employees in Alaska has been affected by the cuts so far, as well as how many more that the Trump administration will decide to lay off.
Mass firings of public employees
As HNN recently reported, US Senator for Alaska, Lisa Murkowski (R), shared her concerns regarding the mass firing of federal employees in a telephone townhall last week.
The senator urged her colleagues in Congress to reassert their constitutional authority and stand up to President Trump if he withholds funding approved by lawmakers through his mass firings of federal workers or severe cuts to federal agencies.
Murkowski has noted on the social media platform X, that dozens of Alaskans, potentially over 100 in total, are being fired as part of the Trump administration’s reduction-in-force order for the federal government.
"Many of these abrupt terminations will do more harm than good, stunting opportunities in Alaska and leaving holes in our communities. We can’t realize our potential for responsible energy and mineral development if we can’t permit projects," she added.
"Our tourism economy will be damaged if we don’t maintain our world-class national parks and forests," Murkowski wrote.
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Layoffs of probationary employees
Probationary workers are among those who have been targeted by the Trump administration's layoff plans. Those are employees who normally have been on the job for a shorter period of time, such as a year.
The newspaper cites David Owens, a national representative with the federal workers union saying they did not have current numbers of those already fired, but expects the Trump administration to fire all probationary employees.
That may include workers within a.o. the Air Force, Army, Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Transportation, Department of Interior, including park employees and firefighters, and the Department of Agriculture.
Owens stated that AFGE is currently coordinating with other unions nationwide to file a class action lawsuit.
“What I tell the people I’m representing is, we’re doing a class action lawsuit. We feel this is not justified [...]. Without a job, I can’t pay my mortgage. What am I going to do? A lot of them are telling me they’re going to be leaving the state," the AFGE representative told the newspaper.