01-03-2025
Federal cuts lead to more than 2K local jobs lost
HONOLULU (KHON2) — Many federal workers in Hawaii are on the hunt for a new job after cuts by the Trump administration. So the state is stepping in to help thousands of laid off federal job fair on the morning of Feb. 28 provided recently laid off federal workers with hope, following President Donald Trump's workforce reduction.
'It's infuriating. It's extremely frustrating. I think a lot of us are very confused about how this took place, and we are a bit impressed and appalled at the swiftness of how these destructive changes have taken place,' stated Cathy Nguyen, former USAID Global Health Bureau senior HIV AIDS strategy adviser.
Fired USAID workers given 15 minutes to gather belongings
Department of Labor and Industrial Relations hosted the job fair to help federal workers find new opportunities.
'There is a lot of uncertainty due to the layoffs. A lot of federal workers were confused and they didn't know where to go. So, we decided to help them by doing this job fair. I'm blown away by how many people have come out so far just to look for jobs,' said DLIR Public Information Officer Chavonne Ramos.
According to the UH Economic Research Organization, federal cuts could result in the loss of more than 2,000 local jobs.
'The risks are real. Everybody's going to be in adjustment mode just because of the uncertainty. You could have nonprofits and and contractors putting hiring freezes in place right now because they don't know what their budget situation is going to be,' stated UHERO Executive Director Carl Bonham.
Federal workers like Nguyen who has been in her position for more about 20 years fear not just for their future but years of public service work that has halted.
'A huge portion of the workforce for the office of HIV AIDS was completely gutted. It hasn't been a month and we are already seeing consequences. People are not receiving services, that they're getting sick or their families are getting sick, they're not getting access to other services,' Nguyen said.
Many federal workers are now forced to consider career changes.
'Some federal workers would maybe move to a state job in order to be able to stay in Hawaii and take the pay cut. But, you still get the hit to to the state economy from that lost federal money flowing in. Then the state's got to come up, or the counties have to come up, with the money to pay those workers,' Bonham said
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