Fulton County hopes to fill job vacancies with fired federal workers

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - Fulton County leaders have a message for federal workers affected by the recent federal job cuts: Come work for us.

Commission Chairman Robb Pitts announced a new program on Thursday to help federal employees in the county facing job cuts.

The backstory:

In the first month of President Donald Trump's administration, thousands of federal employees have been either laid off or fired.

The White House had offered a "deferred resignation" proposal in exchange for financial incentives, like months of paid leave, to almost all federal employees who opted to leave their jobs by Feb. 6.

But just before that deadline, a federal judge blocked Trump’s plan, wanting to hear arguments from the administration and the labor unions, which said the offer was illegal.

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According to the Office of Personnel Management, about 75,000 federal employees had accepted the offer as of Feb. 12.

Also affected are probationary employees - those generally on the job for less than a year and who have yet to gain civil service protection. On Feb. 13, the administration ordered agencies to lay off nearly all such workers. Government data maintained by OPM showed that 220,000 federal employees had less than a year on the job as of March 2024.

What they're saying:

Speaking on Thursday, Pitts said at least 2,000 people who live in Fulton County may have been impacted by the cuts.

In response, he says the county plans to offer a guaranteed job interview to those federal workers in the county who have lost their jobs.

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"I think that it is incumbent of us in public service in Fulton County government to look after those who are residents of Fulton County who have displaced by DOGE, and offer them the opportunity to work for Fulton County," Pitts said.

The county has more than 600 open full-time and part-time positions.

Positions include technology professionals, engineers, corrections officers, court reporters, attorneys and others.

What's next:

Pitts has asked the county's chief human resources officer to start planning to ensure that the program could be implemented quickly if the board of commissers approves it during its March 19 meeting.

What you can do:

You can find a list of job vacancies on Fulton County's website.