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Some federal employees work at the Alfonse M. D'Amato U.S....

Some federal employees work at the Alfonse M. D'Amato U.S. Courthouse in Central Islip. Credit: Newsday/John Paraskevas

President Donald Trump’s order requiring the federal government’s more than 2 million civilian employees to return in-person full time — or opt by next week to quit — will impact thousands who work on Long Island, particularly those who have been doing at least some work from home since the COVID-19 pandemic.

And the order has the potential to reshape the agencies themselves nationwide and on the Island.

There are about 17,000 federal civilian jobs on Long Island, according to the state Department of Labor, and roughly 28,000 Long Islanders who are federal workers anywhere. 

The Trump administration announced earlier this week that it would offer a "deferred resignation program" to all federal workers who choose to leave, as new rules require in-person attendance five days a week. Also being imposed: "enhanced standards of suitability and conduct" and the possibility of future downsizing.

Those who volunteer under the departure program will stay on until the end of September, but they won’t have to return to the office and will get about eight months of pay. The decision to leave must be made by Feb. 6.

Assuming the plan is upheld legally — which isn’t certain — it’s plausible that the plan could thin the workforce by 5% to 10%, the administration estimates, according to Donald Moynihan, a public policy professor at the University of Michigan whose research tries to improve how the government works.

On Long Island, the federal government maintains branches, laboratories, field offices, medical facilities and other outposts in both Nassau and Suffolk counties: the Small Business Administration in Hauppauge; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Melville; the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Holtsville, where the Internal Revenue Service also has an office, plus one in Bethpage; the Department of Agriculture in Riverhead; VA Northport Health Care; the Social Security Administration in Melville, Patchogue, Riverhead, Freeport and Mineola; and the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, home to the National Weather Service.

Mandating a return to office full time can pose an added burden for some people, such as parents and older workers, who were used to flexible arrangements that began in 2020, during the pandemic, according to Shital Patel, a principal economist with the state Department of Labor in Hicksville.

"Flexible work arrangements have been a huge help to parents, especially mothers, so taking away any flexibility at all is going to make it a lot harder for mothers to remain in the workforce," she said, adding: "I think the increase in flexible work arrangements during the pandemic allowed a lot more mothers to return to the workforce."

The impact won’t be felt across all agencies equally, according to Moynihan.

Those who work in Homeland Security or at Veterans Affairs medical facilities, for example, are likely mostly in-person because of the nature of their work.

"For those people, I don’t think much will change," he said.

That’s in contrast with some white-collar workers — such as researchers who don’t need to be in a lab all the time, technical employees or support staff — whose tasks don’t necessarily require being in the same physical location, "and I think for those agencies, this will bite much more severely," Moynihan said.

The American Federation of Government Employees union described the effort as "purging the federal government" of those viewed as disloyal to Trump.

Those who take the buyout will still be working for the federal government until September, so the impact of departures, both on the workforce and the public, won’t be truly felt until then.

"They can’t really switch to another job while they’re full-time federal employees, so the economic contraction will not be immediate," Moynihan said. "If people are struggling to get jobs, then later in September you will start to see an economic impact."

The changes Trump has announced have made it less attractive to work for the federal government, Moynihan said.

"The people who are most likely to take these offers are also the people most likely to be able to get a job in the private sector, and so the federal government would be losing its most skilled employees," he said.

But for research scientists, at least, leaving also could expose them to a less lucrative job market, he said, as the Trump administration has signaled less federal funding for science.

.

President Donald Trump’s order requiring the federal government’s more than 2 million civilian employees to return in-person full time — or opt by next week to quit — will impact thousands who work on Long Island, particularly those who have been doing at least some work from home since the COVID-19 pandemic.

And the order has the potential to reshape the agencies themselves nationwide and on the Island.

There are about 17,000 federal civilian jobs on Long Island, according to the state Department of Labor, and roughly 28,000 Long Islanders who are federal workers anywhere. 

The Trump administration announced earlier this week that it would offer a "deferred resignation program" to all federal workers who choose to leave, as new rules require in-person attendance five days a week. Also being imposed: "enhanced standards of suitability and conduct" and the possibility of future downsizing.

WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND

  • Long Island is home to about 17,000 federal civilian jobs, according to the state Department of Labor. And roughly 28,000 Long Islanders are federal workers anywhere.
  • New rules require in-person attendance five days a week for federal employees, and the Trump administration is offering eight months of pay to all federal workers who choose to leave — but the decision must be made by Feb. 6.
  • On Long Island the federal government maintains branches, laboratories, field offices, medical facilities and other outposts, in both Nassau and Suffolk counties, including the Small Business Administration in Hauppauge and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Holtsville.

Those who volunteer under the departure program will stay on until the end of September, but they won’t have to return to the office and will get about eight months of pay. The decision to leave must be made by Feb. 6.

Assuming the plan is upheld legally — which isn’t certain — it’s plausible that the plan could thin the workforce by 5% to 10%, the administration estimates, according to Donald Moynihan, a public policy professor at the University of Michigan whose research tries to improve how the government works.

On Long Island, the federal government maintains branches, laboratories, field offices, medical facilities and other outposts in both Nassau and Suffolk counties: the Small Business Administration in Hauppauge; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Melville; the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Holtsville, where the Internal Revenue Service also has an office, plus one in Bethpage; the Department of Agriculture in Riverhead; VA Northport Health Care; the Social Security Administration in Melville, Patchogue, Riverhead, Freeport and Mineola; and the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, home to the National Weather Service.

Mandating a return to office full time can pose an added burden for some people, such as parents and older workers, who were used to flexible arrangements that began in 2020, during the pandemic, according to Shital Patel, a principal economist with the state Department of Labor in Hicksville.

"Flexible work arrangements have been a huge help to parents, especially mothers, so taking away any flexibility at all is going to make it a lot harder for mothers to remain in the workforce," she said, adding: "I think the increase in flexible work arrangements during the pandemic allowed a lot more mothers to return to the workforce."

The impact won’t be felt across all agencies equally, according to Moynihan.

Those who work in Homeland Security or at Veterans Affairs medical facilities, for example, are likely mostly in-person because of the nature of their work.

"For those people, I don’t think much will change," he said.

That’s in contrast with some white-collar workers — such as researchers who don’t need to be in a lab all the time, technical employees or support staff — whose tasks don’t necessarily require being in the same physical location, "and I think for those agencies, this will bite much more severely," Moynihan said.

The American Federation of Government Employees union described the effort as "purging the federal government" of those viewed as disloyal to Trump.

Those who take the buyout will still be working for the federal government until September, so the impact of departures, both on the workforce and the public, won’t be truly felt until then.

"They can’t really switch to another job while they’re full-time federal employees, so the economic contraction will not be immediate," Moynihan said. "If people are struggling to get jobs, then later in September you will start to see an economic impact."

The changes Trump has announced have made it less attractive to work for the federal government, Moynihan said.

"The people who are most likely to take these offers are also the people most likely to be able to get a job in the private sector, and so the federal government would be losing its most skilled employees," he said.

But for research scientists, at least, leaving also could expose them to a less lucrative job market, he said, as the Trump administration has signaled less federal funding for science.

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