Interior solicits employees' resumes in preparation for widespread layoffs

The Interior Department is asking its employees to turn over their resumes as it prepares to slash its workforce, with major changes expected in early May. 

Interior will centralize many of its functions, including human resources, IT, finance, contracting communications, international affairs and other administrative roles, away from individual bureaus and into the central part of the department in a process expected to begin May 4, according to employees briefed on the plans. Layoffs, or reductions in force, are not likely to occur at that point, though they are expected in the coming weeks. 

“The department continues to evaluate workforce optimization opportunities,” the U.S. Geological Survey said in an email to employees on Tuesday and obtained by Government Executive. “This includes plans for reductions-in-force.” 

USGS noted that positions of the “high priority” to achieve the department’s mission, as well as those critical to public safety, would be exempted from the RIFs.

“As the department continues to plan for reductions-in-force to increase workforce efficiency, employees should proactively review their personnel records for accuracy,” USGS wrote. “Additionally, Human Resources is requesting an updated resume from all Interior employees.”  

The National Park Service is expected to soon send out a similar email to all of its staff, according to an employee involved in those plans. Both NPS and USGS are asking employees to verify that all their personnel records are correct and up to date. They must also submit their resumes, ostensibly so their agencies can determine their eligibility for other positions if they are laid off. 

Employees expressed concern about the request, however, saying the department could examine their resumes to determine which positions are mission-critical. Alyse Sharpe, an Interior spokesperson, said the department was adhering to guidelines as laid out by the Office of Personnel Management but had no further details on RIF plans at this time. 

The Internal Revenue Service has also requested employees turn over updated resumes in preparation for widespread layoffs. 

Government Executive first reported on Interior's plan to consolidate functions across the department earlier this month, which Interior Secretary Doug Burgum subsequently confirmed in a memorandum. Impacted entities will soon report directly to the secretary’s office, he said. 

Burgum tapped the assistant secretary for policy, management budget, a role currently being filled by Tyler Hassen. Hassen previously served in the Department of Government Efficiency. 

USGS, in its message to staff, noted it had offered several voluntary separation incentives to employees, including a second round of the “deferred resignation program” that enabled staff to sit on paid leave until they leave the agency by Sept. 30. 

At NPS, 1,100 employees have signed up for the second DRP, according to an employee briefed on the figure. Due to Burgum's April 3 order requiring all National Parks and other NPS-managed properties remain open at their current hours unless top leadership approves of changes, however, half of those requests are currently pending further review. Already, staff and stakeholders are raising concerns about Burgum’s demands. 

Kristen Brengel, senior vice president of governmental affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association, called the order “reckless and out of touch,” saying it was “setting up the Park Service for failure.” She noted NPS has for years suffered from understaffing, which the Trump administration has compounded with freezes, separation incentives and expected layoffs. 

“The administration is now tying their hands and forcing them to jump through bureaucratic hoops just to close a trail, campground or visitor center they believe poses a risk or can’t be staffed,” Brengel said of local park leadership. 

The Park Service joins IRS and the Agriculture Department in potentially denying DRP applicants due to concerns mission-critical work would suffer. Multiple offices within USDA—which saw 16,000 employees accept the DRP—have rejected employees applying for the program, such as the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service denying employees out of fear that critical losses among staff would hamper avian influenza response.  

NPS human resources office, like others throughout Interior, is now combing through all employees’ documentation to ensure the information is up to date “in preparation for the RIF,” one employee said. HR staff are themselves preparing for the early May consolidation into central Interior, which, due to the condensed timeframe, has stoked concerns of a chaotic rollout as emails change and employees, potentially, get locked out of accounts.  

“There are so many issues with that,” one employee said of the current plans. 

The agency will also engage in all of this work while entering its busiest HR time of the year, as it looks to hire thousands of seasonal staff in anticipation of its highest visitation period of the year. 

That hiring will take place even as at least some NPS employees have been told to expect a third deferred resignation window next month. 

USGS has seen 860 employees opt into the program, according to an employee briefed on that figure, and that number is expected to climb as those at least 40 years old have extra time to finalize their decisions. About two-thirds of the top 12 career USGS staff have opted to resign.