Niece has just lost her job as a direct result of Musk’s edict.

Meanwhile the anti-establishment hero is cosying up to Putin to get a 50% share of rich minerals in Ukraine.
Is obscene.

love0c

Thousands have and are losing their jobs over here due to Labour policies!!

Not comparable in terms of reasons or numbers.

I feel so desperately sorry for every person out of work because of Musk, one of the richest men on earth causing others to lose their income. How many families now worry about paying the bills, the mortgage, medical bills, and saving for a college fund for the kids. Homes everywhere in the US will now be plunged into despair, jobs are not plentiful am sure in smaller towns and cities, houses will be repossessed, cars sold.
And yet Trump put himself up there as the 'everyman' the antiestablishment hero who would make things better for the ordinary American. Yeah. Looks like it is really working. Not.

Rula

Excuse my ignorance, I've no clue what happening. But are they doing fire and rehire?

Just firing, instant. No warning, no rehiring. Added to that the termination letter say the workers are being fired because of poor performance - even those who have had excellent performance reviews, or haven't worked there long enough to have had any reviews. They seem to think they won't be sued for unfair dismissal if they blame the work of the employees.

eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/02/17/fired-federal-workers-performance-language-doge/78886104007/

love0c

Thousands have and are losing their jobs over here due to Labour policies!!

Could you please clarify that?

Thank you, ayse, very worrying times

imaround

An estimated 200,000 government employees lost their jobs this week. This doesn't include those in the trickle down lines of private compaines who have lost contracts.

They also lost health insurance.

It is going to be bad. And it will start affecting people around the world. No one, it seems, can escape these mad men.

Absolutely and terrifyingly appalling.

At least if that happened here in the UK people would still get “free” healthcare and some welfare benefits.

I feel for anyone employed in public service in the US.

Sorry about your niece’s job, Wizend

Rula

Excuse my ignorance, I've no clue what happening. But are they doing fire and rehire?

Musk and Trump are cutting “unnecessary bureaucrats” and making the state smaller. This is the type of thing that Reform and the Tories are advocating. In the USA they cut nuclear power employees and had to rehire them because of their importance.
Trump’s tariffs have affected the price of food. Eggs as of yesterday were 15 dollars per dozen.

Richard Murphy has suggested that Trump’s activities are going to crash the global markets

I am so sorry to hear that Witzend. It's a personal disaster, which when multiplied by all the other dismissals, will turn into an economic one for the USA. People on benefit cannot afford to spend, except on essentials. Economic growth will flatline and fall.

Depends if those people get jobs in the Private sector instead, I would say.
Or go into other Public service jobs where they can help say the USA some money.In one way or another.

love0c

Thousands have and are losing their jobs over here due to Labour policies!!

Good point, I am sad to say.

As soon as the announcement was made, people could see that that was bound to happen.

Which presumably Labour knew too.

An additional problem with losing your job in the US is that you also lose your health benefits.

Excuse my ignorance, I've no clue what happening. But are they doing fire and rehire?

I am wondering what financial help such people will get in the USA. Over here of course they would get a redundancy payment, I believe in the civil service it is a month’s salary for each year of service up to 12 months. Then there would be unemployment benefit which is about £90 a week and Universal Credit. I am thinking benefits are not so generous in the USA, how will all these people manage? And of course their health insurance is linked to their employment so they will lose that as well.

imaround

I want to be very clear about this. What Trump and Musk are doing is unconstitutional and illegal.

They don't care.

And they can continue to do it for the next four years, or longer if Trump changes the law around a president only being able to serve 2 terms.

I want to be very clear about this. What Trump and Musk are doing is unconstitutional and illegal.

They don't care.

It’s sad how bad things have become for Americans following the re-election process of Donald Trump. We have family in California who believe things are only going to get worse. I for one won’t visit the USA in the near future, which is a shame as we love our trips stateside.

Thousands have and are losing their jobs over here due to Labour policies!!

keepingquiet

vintage1950

But what is Musk's legal authority to do this What would happen if people challenged their dismissal?

He has no legal authority. He is very rich and bought Trump the Presidency so now Trump and everyone else, has to do as he says... it's called a coup d'etat in countires that aren't functioning democracies, and soon the US won't be one either.

Be careful who and what you vote for...

I can't help suspecting that Reform is watching closely what is happening in the US and is taking notes.

After all, Boris Johnson showed the way by ignoring parliamentary conventions, such as dismissing ministers for breaking the ministerial code and elevating quite unsuitable people to the peerage. Don't think it couldn't happen here...

vintage1950

But what is Musk's legal authority to do this What would happen if people challenged their dismissal?

He has no legal authority. He is very rich and bought Trump the Presidency so now Trump and everyone else, has to do as he says... it's called a coup d'etat in countires that aren't functioning democracies, and soon the US won't be one either.

Be careful who and what you vote for...

I am so sorry to hear that Witzend. It's a personal disaster, which when multiplied by all the other dismissals, will turn into an economic one for the USA. People on benefit cannot afford to spend, except on essentials. Economic growth will flatline and fall.
Vintage asks, 'on whose authority'? We will all have to wait to see what the Trump appointed Supreme Court makes of his challenge to the increasing legal restraints being rushed through against him. If they support him against the rule of law, then he is king.

Quote from keepingquiet...."However, the Atlantic is a big ocean to cross in a small boat so I suggest they cross the border and go to Canada..."

Canada is under serious attack at the moment by trump and musk. Escaping to Canada is not as easy to do as one would think since like everywhere else, there's a process.

Trump et al have a strangle hold on their government and don't give a damn about anyone else. It's ironic that sooo many of those who voted for him are suffering, and more will continue to suffer firings. They are also gutting the few social safety nets that had been in place.

They pulled a classic 'Bait & Switch' on voters there.

At this point in time, the USA is a dictatorship... just like Russia.

What a mess!!!!

But what is Musk's legal authority to do this What would happen if people challenged their dismissal?

”They should come here- leave the US to stew in its own ignorance”

Agreed keepingquiet. I’d welcome a ‘brain drain’ from the USA👍

nanna8

Good grief. Where will all these people go now ? They are well educated,informed people so hopefully they can get different employment or start an American brain drain. He doesn’t think things through, does he ?

They should come here- leave the US to stew in its own ignorance.

However, the Atlantic is a big ocean to cross in a small boat so I suggest they cross the border and go to Canada...

nanna8

Good grief. Where will all these people go now ? They are well educated,informed people so hopefully they can get different employment or start an American brain drain. He doesn’t think things through, does he ?

Unfortunately, unless the American job market is very different to the British or that of any European country, well-educated, well-informed people are not greatly in demand in the business world,

Even if they were, few businesses are doing as well as they would like, and certainly not well enough to be hiring people. Right now their sales are dropping, so they are firing people.

Funding for research or teaching in universities and colleges has been greatly reduced everywhere, as the hard fact is that the war in Ukraine is costing us all money, as our governments are forced to find funding for defence budgets that have been starved for years.

So no, sadly, this poor young woman and many like her, are not going to find new jobs very easily. They will be on the breadline soon, or taking jobs they are grossly over-qualified for in order to keep a roof of some sort over their heads and food in the mouths of their children.