Thousands of private government consultants laid off during the Trump administration\u2019s cost-cutting crusade are increasingly flooding a shrinking labor market.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Job postings among seven of the 10 consulting companies\u00a0singled out\u00a0<\/a>by the General Services Administration for contract cuts are down about 27% since 2023, and about 11% from a year ago, according to data scraped from job boards by labor market analytics firm Lightcast.<\/p>\n Booz Allen Hamilton Holding<\/a> Corp. and Deloitte<\/a> LLP had almost 1,200 and 8,200 fewer openings than last year, respectively, Lightcast data showed. Both\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0job\u00a0cuts this<\/a>\u00a0quarter.<\/p>\n \u201cThe job market is certainly not great for these people,\u201d said Ron Hetrick, Lightcast\u2019s principal economist. \u201cIf they lay off people, they\u2019re probably not going to backfill them.\u201d<\/p>\n Federal government employment shrank by 22,000 in May, bringing jobs lost since January to\u00a059,000<\/a>, according to the latest jobs report. That excludes those on paid leave or receiving ongoing severance pay.\u00a0About 75,000 workers<\/a>\u00a0took an initial federal buyout deal that will pay them until September, with thousands more in another round of offers.<\/p>\n Recruitment company Beacon Hill has seen \u201ca noticeable increase\u201d in job seekers from the federal space in the first two quarters of the year because of job cuts and internal reorganizations, said Kim Ayers, a regional director who oversees the group\u2019s government services business.<\/p>\n In response to queries about job cuts, Booz Allen referred to comments made during a recent earnings call, where Chief Operating Officer Kristine Martin Anderson said the company expects to \u201cadd significant headcount in the second half of the year.\u201d Deloitte said it had nothing more to add to the\u00a0statement<\/a>\u00a0it made in April, when it said it was \u201ctaking modest personnel actions based on moderating growth in certain areas, our government clients\u2019 evolving needs, and low levels of voluntary attrition.\u201d<\/p>\n Government contractors support public workers in a wide range of tasks, from producing content and developing software to helping draft regulations and handling administrative tasks. There were about 4.6 million contract workers at the start of this year, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta\u00a0estimates<\/a>, compared with 2.4 million\u00a0directly employed<\/a>\u00a0by the federal government, excluding active duty military personnel, postal employees and temporary census workers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Job postings in Washington, DC, which has the\u00a0largest concentration<\/a>\u00a0of federal workers, were down 17% in April versus Jan. 20, job portal site\u00a0Indeed found<\/a>. The biggest declines were in administrative assistance, human resources and accounting positions, typical functions in public agencies. \u00a0<\/p>\n Specifically, management consulting job postings in the Washington metro area fell 28% between February and May, Lightcast data showed.<\/p>\n While hiring is down, \u201cit\u2019s not non-existent,\u201d Hetrick said in an interview. Companies are looking for individuals with skills to help them effectively use artificial intelligence. This may explain the 171,000 increase in job openings in professional and business services from March to April,\u00a0according to<\/a>\u00a0Bureau of Labor Statistics data, even with 82,000 job cuts during the same period, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n