Thousands of private government consultants laid off during the Trump administration’s cost-cutting crusade are increasingly flooding a shrinking labor market.
“The job market is certainly not great for these people,” said Ron Hetrick, Lightcast’s principal economist. “If they lay off people, they’re probably not going to backfill them.”
Recruitment company Beacon Hill has seen “a noticeable increase” in job seekers from the federal space in the first two quarters of the year because of job cuts and internal reorganizations, said Kim Ayers, a regional director who oversees the group’s government services business.
Specifically, management consulting job postings in the Washington metro area fell 28% between February and May, Lightcast data showed.
Outside of federal services, demand remains strong for talent in areas such as health care, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and machine learning, said Emma Long Garber, a vice president overseeing sales and delivery in the Mid-Atlantic for employment company Insight Global.
Hiring could pick up if the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates, boosting business activity, according to Hetrick.
“It would be very difficult to sell your shareholders on why you would be hiring right now,” he said. “But it could improve. Policies change.”
