Air Force and Space Force to rehire thousands after cutting civilian staff below requirements

The Department of the Air Force plans to restore more than 4,300 civilian jobs across 30 specialties in its fiscal 2027 budget request, costing $291 million. The move follows acknowledgment that previous workforce optimization cuts, driven by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), set staffing levels below established requirements. The rapid loss of over 34,000 civilian workers since January 2025 degraded base operations, slowed acquisitions, and severely impacted staff morale.

Civilian workforce restoration plan

• ▪The Department of the Air Force plans to rehire the equivalent of more than 4,300 full-time civilian jobs across 30 specialties in the active-duty Air Force, Space Force, and Air National Guard.
• ▪The Department of the Air Force requested $291 million in its fiscal 2027 funding request to fund the restoration of civilian positions.
• ▪The Department of the Air Force is asking Congress for nearly 3,200 more civilian billets for fiscal 2027, which would bring the total authorized positions to 173,114.

DOGE-driven workforce reductions

• ▪The Department of Government Efficiency spearheaded federal workforce reductions through sweeping layoffs and the Deferred Resignation Program, which paid employees not to work until their official termination at the end of fiscal 2025.
• ▪The Air National Guard lost more than 7,000 civilian employees since January 2025, representing 48% of its civilian workforce.
• ▪More than 34,000 civilian workers, representing nearly 20% of the Air Force and Space Force civilian workforce, departed after President Donald Trump returned to office on January 20, 2025.

Staffing cuts below requirements

• ▪Former Assistant Secretary of the Air Force Alex Wagner stated that the Department of Government Efficiency team did not understand the role of the civilian workforce and failed to assess where cuts should be made.
• ▪The Department of the Air Force acknowledged in fiscal 2027 budget documents that fiscal 2026 civilian staffing levels were set below established requirements due to data-hygiene and manpower-validation efforts.

Base support position increases

• ▪The Department of the Air Force plans to add more than 1,600 full-time equivalent base support positions at a cost of $92 million.
• ▪The base support funding category spans fire, law enforcement, emergency services, maintenance, logistics, nuclear forces support, and nuclear deterrent modernization.

Critical specialty rehiring priorities

• ▪The Department of the Air Force plans to rehire civilian positions in homeland defense, flight training, recruiting, facilities maintenance, civilian education, logistics, and communications.
• ▪Air Force Secretary Troy Meink stated that the department plans to hire more civilian staff for technology initiatives like artificial intelligence and roles that cannot be replaced by technology, such as flightline maintenance.

Employee morale decline impacts

• ▪Civilian workforce exits slowed acquisition programs, reduced on-base services, increased IT support wait times, and created a culture of fear among remaining staff.
• ▪A Partnership for Public Service survey of career federal civilians found that more than half of the responding Department of the Air Force employees reported being less engaged at work compared to the previous year.