KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Around 60 employees lost their jobs at the IRS campus in Kansas City Thursday, according to leaders of the National Treasury Employees Union Local Chapter 66.
Union president Shannon Ellis said exact numbers are still being determined, but there are around 1,000 or more probationary employees on campus as of Friday morning. Ellis also said they are expecting up to four more layoffs by Monday.
“It's very, very quiet in the building now,” Ellis said. “When you walk through, people are just heads down, and you know, just trying to do their jobs and hope that it doesn't hit them.”
The layoffs are part of an executive order President Donald Trump signed last week, which calls for federal agencies to implement the Department of Government Efficiency’s Workforce Optimization Initiative.
“This is tremendous savings for our government,” Trump said Friday. “We want to downsize government, but make it better, run it better.”
Now, these workers are trying to figure out what’s next.
Ellis said they’re building up job fair resources for these employees right now.
“When we first started hearing about other agencies having terminations, we went out and pulled all our resources for the communities. Food banks, places that help with utilities and rental assistance and things like that,” Ellis said.
"In Kansas City, we have over 10,000 companies in this town, but we're not super tied to any one industry,” President and Owner of Chief of Staff KC Casey Wright said.
He knows workers will question their future, but his company helps them focus on another important question.
“Where am I going to be most marketable to the broadest range of opportunities?” he asked.
Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas posted a link to CivicMatch.org online. The resource helps outgoing federal workers find other public sector jobs.
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KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig covers the cities of Shawnee and Mission. She also focuses on issues surrounding the cost of health care, saving for retirement and personal debt. Share your story idea with Elyse.
