The famous job listing website Indeed has officially released a report that indicates a significant surge in job applications after DOGE targets federal agencies. According to these reports, job applications from workers affected by DOGE’s efforts are up 75% when compared to 2022. Applications from workers of federal agencies such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the U.S. Agency for International Development witnessed a significant surge of about 60% from the month of January to February. If you want to know more about the job application surge, the following article is for you.
What Cory Stahle Said About The DOGE Drives Job Applications Surge?
Cory Stahle, who is an Economist at Indeed, mentioned how they have never seen something like this after a presidential administration and inauguration. He also stated that there were definitely increases in job applications from federal workers after the elections of 2016 and 2020. However, those increases were no match for the magnitude of the surge in job applications from federal workers after the recent elections. The aggressive downsizing and federal agencies being targeted by DOGE coincide with the 2025 surge. It has also come at a time when white-collar work is stagnating.
Why Cory Stahle Thinks It’s The Surge Is Not Good For The Job Market?
Cory Stahle also stated that it is not very good for those who are looking for jobs. The workers that are affected are widely spread out across the United States. Around 500,000 federal workers reportedly live in Washington, D.C., Maryland, or Virginia. However, according to Indeed data, the profiles of 80% of these workers are tied somewhere else. Around a third of these workers are in the South, excluding Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. These job seekers are also highly educated with around 70% of them having a bachelor’s degree and more. This significantly increases competition in the job market as well.
Highly Specialized Job Seekers
Cory Stahle also added that job seekers who are former federal workers are often considered highly specialized as well. He explained this with an assumption stating that if you are a displaced USDA worker with a background in horticulture, you know your job prospects. Stahle also mentioned how job seekers who belong to the mid or senior levels have been in their current jobs for longer.
Plunging Consumer Sentiment
Scott Bessent, who is currently serving as the Treasury Secretary, indicated that the fired employees will get an opportunity to look for jobs in the private sector. However, the shocks may potentially extend from job-seeking. Unemployment, along with other important data points like the yield curve and consumer spending, has remained stable as of yet. However, the plunging consumer sentiment can clearly signal what’s next to come.
What Claudia Sahm Had To Say About The Surge?
Claudia Sahm, who is a former Federal Reserve and White House economist and the creator of the widely used indicator, the “Sahm Rule,” also made a statement. She warned about how the federal cuts can actually damage consumer spending. This applies even to people who are not directly affected. She mentioned that most federal workers might not lose their jobs, but are still very uncertain about their future. In such a situation, none of them will go ahead and buy a house or a car. Their rational response to the uncertainty will be to save and not buy stuff. She stated that although the overall risks to the economy are small, DOGE’s fast-moving process is unnecessarily increasing the risks. Once they actually take hold, recessionary dynamics are difficult to avoid and costly to fix.
