Deferred resignation could affect many of 15,000 federal workers in Alaska

On Jan. 28, more than 2 million federal workers received an emailed offer to resign but be paid for eight months, part of an aggressive effort by the administration of President Donald Trump to drastically cut the size of the federal workforce. The move could have major consequences in Alaska, a state with 15,000 federal workers.

The “deferred resignation” plan is part of a suite of changes the Trump administration is trying to make to the federal government, including slashing equity programs and ordering remote workers back to offices.

Workers were given until Feb. 6 to decide if they wanted to take the buyout, with some unions warning that many aspects of the plan seem unsettled and unclear.

The impacts of the changes are still being felt, including in Alaska, which has one of the highest concentrations of civil servants in the country, according to the Pew Research Center. In 2023, federal employment in Alaska made up 4.6% of all nonfarm jobs, according to the Alaska Department of Labor’s research and analysis section.

In only three other states — the Washington D.C. area, New Mexico and Hawaii — does the percentage of federal workers exceed 2.5% of the overall workforce, the Pew Research Center data shows.

Several unions have advised members not to take the buyout offer, questioning whether the Office of Management and Budget will deliver on promises, and asking what the departure of longtime specialized workers will do to erode services for Americans.

“Purging the federal government of dedicated career civil servants will have vast, unintended consequences that will cause chaos for the Americans who depend on a functioning federal government,” the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 800,000 workers, said in a statement.

In Alaska, the Department of Defense is the biggest single federal agency employer for civilians in Alaska, with around 5,000 employees, according to data from the Alaska Department of Labor.

That figure does not count the roughly 20,000 active-duty military personnel in Alaska, according to the Department of Defense figures. Active service members did not get the resignation email.

The Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Postal Service all have more than 1,000 Alaska-based positions. Other major federal employers in Alaska include the Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Postal service employees, and workers dealing with immigration or national security also aren’t eligible for the buyout, according to the White House.

Alaska’s federal employees are concentrated in Anchorage, according to data from the Alaska Department of Labor. The city is home to 8,357 federal workers.

The Fairbanks North Star Borough is the second biggest hub of federal employees, with 3,199 workers. Juneau and Kenai are each home to a federal workforce in the hundreds. More than 2,500 workers are stationed around the rest of the state, with the postal service and FAA being major employers.

Federal workers in Alaska take home close to $1.5 billion in wages collectively each year, according to the Alaska Department of Labor.