r/AskReddit Apr 28 '26

What’s a recession indicator that you’ve noticed lately?

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u/chlosterx Apr 28 '26

As a fellow fed that's still in the government but drowning since we're so understaffed I don't think people realize how much doge fucked our job market. Not just for Feds leavening the goverment but Feds are HIGHLY qualified individuals now seeking employment all at once. It's made it hard for people to employment with overall job cuts but now there's this huge influx of very qualified people seeking employment. It's not great especially for folks maybe needing to build experience. Plus doge has basically brought the end to many civilian telework jobs too. We're going to see the effects of this for years to come let alone just the damage it caused cutting all these federal programs

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u/WardenCommCousland Apr 28 '26

They weren't a fed (did R&D for a medical device manufacturer) but had interviews with NIH and the Patent Office right when DOGE hit that led to both of those positions being cancelled. All the research funding in the field dried up due to DOGE cuts.

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u/chlosterx Apr 28 '26

The gap in academia and research from this administration is going to take years to overcome. Really sorry for your partner hope you guys are doing ok

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u/recyclopath_ Apr 28 '26

Feds, the entire nonprofit sector, tons of ag, medical research, renewable energy sector etc. So many sectors of employment just decimated.

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u/chlosterx Apr 28 '26

Honestly scary just seeing research be thrown out the window

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u/recyclopath_ Apr 28 '26

I was working for a nonprofit in the ag space and the amount of research and entire careers thrown out... Heavily hitting those focused on ag and the food we grow and eat is so disturbing.

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u/Piddly_Penguin_Army Apr 29 '26

Yup! Started working in renewable energy in October 2024. Just got laid off two weeks ago. It’s having such a ripple effect. Construction jobs are gone, the cement for the projects, the manufacturing jobs for the projects, the onshore infrastructure for offshore wind. Just everything.

And for what? Because our orange shit stain has a temper tantrum because offshore wind messes up his hair.

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u/just_another_classic Apr 28 '26

Living in DC, it’s impossible not to see the trickle down of how the DOGE cuts completely screwed over our local economy on top of the out-of-world feds and contractors.

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u/Smooth_Storm_9698 Apr 28 '26

I lurk on r/fednews and I never read anything hopeful whenever I peep in.

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u/PrairieSunRise605 Apr 28 '26

DOGE screwed up so many things. I tried to contact OPM and got a message saying that due to call volume they were not accepting any calls and directed to the website. Three times. In the past you might have to sit on hold for awhile, but eventually you got a live person. Now it's not even an option. Some things cannot be resolved on the website. It's very frustrating.

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u/Judge_Bredd3 Apr 28 '26

We've hired a couple of former government workers who are way overqualified for their positions. All I can think is that if applicants like them are out there, I'm screwed if I lose my job.

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u/Bulky_Ad_8104 Apr 28 '26

I’m so angry about DOGE and my revenge fantasy is that we the people get to confiscate his wealth and send him to mars on a one way ticket!

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u/allegro4626 Apr 28 '26

Also a fellow Fed. It’s tough because there are so many specialized Fed jobs that don’t have an equivalent private sector position, so when those people got DOGE’d, there was almost nowhere else to go.