Dismantling large segments of the federal workforce has been a goal of President Donald Trump’s second term. The effort began with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency urging federal workers to participate in a deferred resignation program and has continued with officials attempting to use the ongoing shutdown to fire furloughed employees.

The most recent estimates indicate over 211,000 civilian employees have left federal service since January, according to the Partnership for Public Service.

Some of those former federal employees have transitioned to careers in California’s state government.

Since March, at least 1,800 people affected by the federal workforce reductions have submitted applications through CalCareers, the state’s online job board. California agencies reported that at least 46 former federal employees have been hired since Trump took office.

The federal government shutdown, now in its fifth week, continues to strain hundreds of thousands of government workers who haven’t received paychecks, and some of those employees have applied for new jobs in state government. As of Wednesday, the California Department of Human Resources reported that 252 people impacted by the federal government workforce reductions had applied for a job with the state since the federal government shutdown began Oct. 1.

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The California Environmental Protection Agency has been one landing spot for former federal workers. According to the federal EPA, the agency cut 23% of its personnel as of July.

California Secretary for Environmental Protection Yana Garcia said it’s not surprising that former federal employees who worked in public health and environmental protection want to work in the Golden State. Garcia said that those public servants’ departures come at a cost to the critical work of federal agencies.

“But we also welcome the opportunity to leverage their experience and expertise, as well as the enhanced capacity to deepen our partnerships with other states that they bring,” Garcia said in a statement.

Pushing back against the Trump administration

Christopher Grundler, a former EPA worker, with over four decades of experience in federal government, said he was alarmed by the changes Trump administration officials were making at the environmental agency. To push back against the reshaping of the EPA, he applied to work for the state of California.

“It was frankly just very difficult for me to watch the comprehensive dismantling of everything that I worked for over 42 years,” Grundler said.

Now a deputy executive officer at the California Air Resources Board, Grundler said the Trump administration is actively taking steps to roll back environmental and health protections for the public. He said one of the offices he previously led at the EPA, the Office of Atmospheric Protection, no longer exists. The EPA did not respond to a request for comment.

Grundler said he joined CARB to help mount a defense of California’s right to protect air and water quality.

“The federal government has not removed our authority to protect breathers from air pollution,” he said.

As to the difference between federal and state service, Grundler said things move more quickly in Sacramento compared to Washington.

Additionally, he said it feels like he’s working more closely with the public as a California state employee. It’s easier to get out into communities, hear people’s concerns and tell them what the state can do to help, he said.

“When you’re in Washington, more often than not, you see the obstacles, you see the barriers,” Grundler said. “I’m not saying you don’t have that here in Sacramento, you do, but I think there’s just more imagination, there’s more curiosity here.”

Recruitment is ongoing

In April, CalHR announced a campaign to recruit displaced federal workers by offering several resources to candidates, including application assistance and examples of state jobs with federal equivalency. As of Friday afternoon, the state’s online jobs board listed 2,899 open positions.

“The State of California continues to support the recruitment of the federal workforce, and CalHR maintains its commitment to providing resources and information to federal workers to ease their transition to the state,” Monica Erickson, who was appointed as the director of CalHR Thursday, said in a statement.

CalHR specified that it was recruiting federal employees with experience in certain fields: “firefighting, weather forecasting and modeling, natural resource management, medical and mental health and the sciences.”

Since March, the state has received a fairly consistent number of applications each month from federal employees. The number of applications spiked in May, with 314 submissions. A CalHR spokesperson said the department does not track where federal candidates are hired in state service.

The California Energy Commission and the Department of Conservation have each hired eight former federal workers this year. Three have joined the Department of Fish and Wildlife. California’s Franchise Tax Board has hired 15 former feds, all from the Internal Revenue Service, who work within the agency’s Audit Division. A CalEPA spokesperson said over a dozen former federal workers have joined various departments, boards and offices within the agency.

One similarity between federal and state service is the benefits offered.

California and the federal government offer most employees retirement benefits after five years of public service. The benefits offered by the California Public Employees Retirement System and the Federal Employees Retirement System vary depending on the number years of service, retirement age and an employee’s salary.

There is no reciprocity between FERS and CalPERS, CalHR noted. Additionally, years of federal experience do not count toward any state benefits, such as vesting or seniority.