The Department of Government Efficiency is much in the news these days, with many of the stories focusing on federal employee layoffs and their impact on the individuals involved.
While no one likes to see people lose their jobs, the mainstream media seems to view the misfortune of others as a way to advance its political agenda. But there are two sides to every story, and it would be nice to see some economic literacy among our cultural elites.
Layoffs happen for good reasons, not out of a desire to harm those who are working but as a response to something that isn’t. As someone who has both been laid off and laid people off, I know this firsthand. And while both experiences were difficult for me, both were essential, and both ultimately bore good fruit.
It’s natural to sympathize with those who have been let go by the government (though the generous severance packages they’re receiving should not go unnoticed). Sure, some of them are no-goodniks, hiding out at home, taking advantage of taxpayers, and deserving of their fate. Others, though, are well-meaning, hard-working public servants–real people with real lives feeling the consequences of events much bigger than themselves.
That alone, however, doesn’t entitle them to a job. They, like everyone else, must live in the real world where productivity and value creation are nonnegotiable facts of life. The slackers who have been taking advantage of the system now have the opportunity learn that valuable lesson, while those who have been diligent and devoted can redeploy their gifts in the private sector where they can reap the rewards of their efforts. Growing companies are always looking for good people.
When I was laid off early in my career, it was mere weeks after having been offered a promotion. I hadn’t done anything wrong; a change in circumstances beyond my company’s control meant it could no longer afford me. The same was true when later, as a business owner, I had to lay people off; it was the last thing I wanted to do, but had I not let go of some at that time I would soon have had to let go of all. Great Recessions (brought about by government mismanagement, BTW) will do that to you.
So will looming catastrophes.
For decades we’ve been kicking the can down the road instead of reining in a government far bigger than our ability to afford it. A shameful peacetime debt-to-GDP ratio of 122% is a threat not only to the economy but to national security, and a blight on our generation that will be paid for by our children and grandchildren.
While we must reform entitlement programs to fully right the ship, we are also morally obligated to consider the aggregate effects of a bloated federal government–not only its actual costs, but the opportunity costs of private sector means being diverted to government ends.
There are, today, approximately 2.4 million federal employees, not counting the military or Postal Service. If DOGE were to reduce that number by, say 10% (not uncommon in the private sector), that would be 240,000 jobs cut. The average federal employee salary is $106,462; if we were to include the cost of benefits like life insurance, health insurance, and retirement plans (ignoring additional perks like loan forgiveness and child care subsidies) we could add a minimum of 20% to that number, making the average annual cost of a federal employee $127,754.
To be conservative, let’s go with $125,000 per job. Multiply that by 240,000 and you get the jaw-dropping amount taxpayers have been on the hook for to fund just 10% of the federal workforce: $30 billion a year. Every year.
How many private sector jobs have not been created because the government continues to annually siphon $30 billion out of the economy? How many raises have workers across the U.S. not received because taxes have a higher claim on company profits? How many hard-working employees have been laid off by small business owners struggling to make ends meet? How many families have suffered as a result, nowhere on the radar of CBS News but facing no less tragic circumstances than those let go by DOGE? And how much contempt will our children and grandchildren rightly pile on us for piling on them unsustainable, generational debt?
It’s always unfortunate when someone loses a job. But while Big Media does its best to manipulate public opinion against responsible reductions in the federal workforce, real people for whom more jobs, higher pay, and additional opportunities would result from $30 billion a year remaining in the economy go unnoticed. And just imagine the economic dynamism and deficit reduction a savings of $1 trillion a year would create, which DOGE is aiming to pull off through other cost-cutting measures.
We’ve all seen what happens to communities when criminal judges prioritize empathy over responsibility: more crime. The same holds true in the economy. To sacrifice the good of all to the interests of one–no matter how compelling the backstory–is asking for trouble down the road. If we don’t get a handle on this now, it will soon be too late.