The Pentagon is reducing the work of 60,000 civilians. About one-third of voluntary resignations

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Defense will reduce the number of jobs to about 50,000 to 60,000 civilians, but in the coming months, less than 21,000 workers who voluntarily resigned from their jobs plan have left.

To reach the 5% to 8% target, a civilian workforce exceeds 900,000, the official said, and the department aims to cut about 6,000 positions a month by not replacing workers who leave frequently.

A key issue is that service members can be used to fill those civilian jobs. However, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, providing staff details that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wanted to ensure that the cuts did not hurt military preparations.

The cuts are part of a broader effort by the government’s Department of Efficiency Services, including Elon Musk, a consultant for billionaire Trump, to cut federal labor and remove U.S. agencies.

The official acknowledged that “some” veterans would be liberalized among civilians, so there would be no estimate of how many people there were, but agreed that it could be thousands.

The department is using three methods to complete workforce layoffs: voluntarily resign, fire probation workers and lay off workers when employees often leave. Military Services and Pentagon officials are on the verge of the case to ensure that cuts do not affect critical national security efforts, the official said.

Due to court challenges, the Pentagon said plans to cut trial workers have been put on hold.

Officials added that Heggs was confident that he could make layoffs without being ready for military service.