US Reinstates Hundreds of Federal Staff After Workforce Cuts Backfire

The US administration is reinstating hundreds of General Services Administration (GSA) employees amid a severe manpower shortage that has disrupted even basic government functions.
The reversal follows sweeping layoffs earlier this year, driven by Elon Musk in his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). In February, Musk had ordered federal workers to submit weekly accomplishment reports or risk being deemed to have resigned—a directive many agencies, including the FBI, State Department and Pentagon, urged staff to ignore. Thousands were nevertheless dismissed as part of the initiative to shrink the federal workforce.
The cuts also hit the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which oversees the nation’s nuclear weapons programme. Layoffs there sparked alarm, with senior officials warning of risks to national security. When the administration later sought to rehire those workers, it struggled to contact them because their government email accounts had already been deactivated.
Now, GSA staff who were laid off have been given until 6 October to decide whether to return. The agency manages federal workspaces and has been struggling with depleted capacity.
Other agencies have also walked back DOGE’s cuts. The Internal Revenue Service recently offered affected employees the option to stay, while the Labour Department and National Park Service have already reinstated some staff who had accepted buyout packages.
The reinstatements highlight the strain that abrupt workforce reductions have placed on federal operations, forcing the government to retrace its steps to restore critical capacity.
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