SACRAMENTO, California — The ongoing government shutdown is leaving federal paychecks and jobs in limbo. California’s smelling a recruitment opportunity.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s campaign to recruit former federal workers has yielded a steady stream of job applications since its launch in March, at the peak of the Elon Musk-led job cuts that saw tens of thousands leave the federal workforce. Applications peaked in May at 314 but have largely kept up, numbering 239 in September, according to state data provided to POLITICO.
California hiring officials have also created a website and information sessions specifically targeted at former federal workers (they have not, however, run ads in Washington metro stations, like New York.)
The result is at least dozens of hires, from entry-level staff to high-profile scientists and regulators with decades of federal experience who moved West to preserve their life’s work and lead California departments at the front lines of backfilling federal rollbacks.