Less than 10 weeks after the State Department laid off hundreds of Foreign Service Officers, citing bureaucratic bloat, it is beginning to bring nearly 100 new ones on.
Last week, the Office of Talent Acquisition began notifying new employees that their orientation class will begin Sept. 22, according to an email obtained by Government Executive. About 99 new employees will join the Foreign Service class, according to people involved in or familiar with the plans.
In July, State issued reduction-in-force notices to 1,350 employees, including about 250 FSOs.
Current and laid-off employees wonder why cuts were made if State planned to begin hiring again so soon. Foreign Service Officers are flexible; most work as generalists, switching roles and locations every few years.
“The optics are terrible,” said one State employee familiar with the hiring plans.
A Foreign Service Officer affected by the layoffs said the new hiring demonstrates a lack of consistent thinking. “They indiscriminately fired hundreds only to turn around and start hiring almost immediately,” the soon-to-be-former officer said.
Another laid-off Foreign Service Officer called the approach wasteful because State has invested in training each diplomat throughout their career.
“So the idea of firing 250 FSOs only to bring in more people in their wake is totally inefficient and the definition of wasteful government spending,” the laid-off staffer said.
That person added the approach will open the door to the Trump administration intimidating new employees “who don’t know the rules of the road or when and how to push back.”
A department spokesperson said State “welcomes a new class” of FSOs, calling the process standard.
“This new class will be filling entry-level positions throughout the department that were maintained in the reorganization,” the spokesperson said.
State officials said ahead of the July layoffs that the department’s reorganization was meant to “refocus” its mission on core objectives and modern needs. The department was not saying those affected by the layoffs “weren’t doing a good job or weren’t valuable members of the State Department family,” one official said, but the administration had an obligation to “do what’s right for the mission and what’s right for the American people.”
While the duties and areas in which FSOs serve shift regularly, State said it was targeting staff because of the offices in which they were serving in that moment. Some of those laid off have subsequently been awarded promotions for outstanding performance, though their RIFs remain in effect.
Under President Biden, the Foreign Service grew by 6% at State and the department last year brought on 235 people in its largest class size ever. In May, the Trump administration welcomed another cohort of 104 Foreign Service personnel.
While the Trump administration has ushered hundreds of thousands of employees out of government since January, State is just the latest example of an agency seeking to unwind some of that work. The departments of Treasury, Health and Human Services and Labor have rescinded layoffs to fill staffing needs, while the Agriculture Department, Justice Department, Social Security Administration and other agencies have moved employees around to ensure continuity of critical functions.
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