Layoffs mean lost income, halted retirement contributions, and uncertain health coverage. Even those still employed face new costs, including commuting, childcare, or potential relocation due to the in-person work requirement.

Nearly 600 employees have accepted buyouts at Duke University, opting into a voluntary separation incentive program prompted by threats to federal research funding, WRAL reported.

DOGE, Business Insider spoke with 22 federal workers who stayed. They're mourning fired colleagues and trying to find a way forward.

Maryland has the nation's second-highest concentration of federal workers, and hundreds have either lost their jobs, taken buyouts, or resigned.

The Federal Transit Administration will lose about 33% of its staff as a result of buyouts offered by the Trump administration, well above the 7% figure for the Department of Transportation as a whole,

Thousands of workers in government jobs have taken buyouts or retired early. Many say morale is low.

The state of Maryland implemented a buyout for eligible employees earlier this month in an effort to cut millions in costs for the 2026 budget.

Almost 600 staff members have accepted Duke University’s “voluntary separation incentive,” but that won’t be enough to prevent staff layoffs scheduled to start in August.

Nearly 600 employees at Duke University opted to take buyouts through the school's Voluntary Separation Incentive Program (VSIP), the university said in a letter to employees on Friday.

The Trump administration will reduce planned federal worker layoffs as tens of thousands of employees opted for buyouts or early retirement. This decision follows initial aggressive strategies to cut federal jobs,

Buyouts vs. layoffs Buyouts can be a precursor to layoffs. It's common for companies to offer workers buyouts, and then, if a certain number of workers don't take them, layoffs ensue.