Pentagon to fire up to 61,000 workers, starting with 5,400 next week: DOD

About 5,400 Defense Department employees will lose their jobs next week, the first cuts in what will ultimately be a five-to-eight-percent reduction of the civilian workforce, a Pentagon official said Friday.The cost-saving goal was announced in a statement released by Darin Selnick, who is temporarily serving as DOD’s personnel chief. The department employed 764,000 civilians as of June 2024, according to Office of Personnel Management data, which means more than 61,000 people could lose