NEW YORK, March 11. /TASS/. Mass layoffs of civilian personnel at the US Department of Defense (DoD) have led to a decline in its effectiveness and a reduction in its capabilities, the Defense One portal reported, citing department employees.
"I would say overall the DoD civilian policies over the past year have resulted in degraded performance and capability downgrade overall due to the loss of critical skill sets," the portal quotes a Pentagon civilian employee as saying.
According to him, the vacated jobs have largely remained unfilled," leading to increased wait times and reduced effectiveness. The top leadership is aware of the problem but is preventing recruitment.
"There are a lot of unfilled positions that will remain vacant for the foreseeable future. For the most part, managers know not to ask for new staff," the civilian said. "I would not say processes are becoming more efficient. Probably the reverse, with a lot of offices reducing hours and services," he noted.
The portal notes that approximately 110,000 civilian employees left the department last year, 14,600 of whom were dismissed by management. Only 30,000 vacancies critical to national security were subsequently re-filled. In September 2025, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth "signed another memo laying out a path for the quick firing of low performers." It is unknown how many people lost their jobs under that framework.
Since taking office last January, Hegseth has ordered the dismissal of several generals, including former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. In April, former Pentagon spokesperson John Ullyot claimed in an article that the department was in "total chaos," caused in part by the dismissals.