The Democratic governor on Wednesday signed an executive order directing state agencies to give hiring preference to federal employees. He likened it to the preference they give to applicants with state experience in an effort to fill 5,600 current state job openings.
The announcement comes as Trump and billionaire adviser Elon Musk’sDepartment of Government Efficiency continue to slashes government spending, including mass layoffs of probationary federal workers nationwide and in the Philadelphia area.
“What I’m announcing today is not some act of charity for them. This is an act of self-interest for the people of Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said at a news conference outside a state government job fair in Harrisburg. “Because I believe the commonwealth can benefit from the experience and expertise of these federal workers who have been forced out of their jobs.”
Approximately 103,700 Pennsylvanians were employed by the federal government in 2024, and, “due to recent events, many experienced and talented public servants … may be unemployed or seeking new employment,” according to the executive order Shapiro signed Wednesday.
During his speech announcing the order, Shapiro highlighted the opportunity for fired government employees to transfer their existing skills to a state government job, and said the state would publicize a list of current federal jobs with their state-level equivalents. The governor encouraged federal employees to stay in public service as DOGE tries to usher workers into the private sector.
“If you were a registered nurse at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, you should know that your critical skills are needed here in the commonwealth,” Shapiro said, noting these professionals from the VA, Pennsylvania’s largest federal employer, and other federal agencies would be “prequalified” for these jobs for a less time-consuming hiring process.
It is unclear how many of Pennsylvania’s 5,600 job openings align with the experience of laid-off federal workers. Current state job openings include those for registered nurses, information technology executives, and clerical assistants, among others.
Philip Glover, the national vice president for the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) District 3 who oversees Pennsylvania and Delaware’s federal workers, said he thinks the order will “make a lot of difference” for fired federal employees in the state. Approximately 500 federal workers in his union who work in Pennsylvania have filed for unemployment so far, he added, and they can now compare their former job title to that of state-level careers.
“(Shapiro’s) being proactive is fantastic for our members,” Glover added.
Several Democratic state lawmakers from south-central Pennsylvania joined Shapiro for the executive order signing, adding that they would be introducing legislation to modify the state’s civil service hiring law, which has not been significantly updated since its creation 84 years ago.
However, state Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, a Republican, noted that taxpayers support cutting waste, fraud and abuse in all levels of government and said the Trump administration’s reduction of the federal workforce “looks to provide long-term stability for our nation.”
He compared Trump’s attempt to slash federal government with Shapiro’s $51.5 billion budget proposal that he said will not realistically fix the state’s $4.5 billion budget gap.
Other nearby states have also taken action to assist laid-off federal workers in their states.
The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development is highlighting its unemployment resources and career service offerings as federal employees in the state and nationwide continue to be affected by mass government layoffs. The NJDOL says there are approximately 50,000 federal employees in New Jersey, and an increasing number of them have applied for unemployment benefits.
And in Maryland, Democratic Gov. Wes Moorehas signaled he wants to do something similar to Shapiro in transitioning fired federal employees into the state’s workforce.
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