This time last year, federal workers were fretting about getting DOGE’d—laid off by the Trump administration’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Now, many are wondering how they’ll land their next job. Through DOGE and its aftershocks, over 300,000 federal employees have left their government posts as of December, whether they were laid off, fired, or resigned. Though the Trump administration touted its DOGE-motivated deferred resignation program as granting government workers a “dignified, fair departure” from their jobs, many said it certainly didn’t feel that way. In the wake of so much uncertainty and the trauma of losing livelihoods—and, for some, their life’s work—the mass exodus brought the need for emotional and professional support. Federal alumni banded together to create department-specific groups, or leaned on the few that already existed. A year later, though, many former federal employees are still looking for work, and some who retained their government jobs are in need of guidance when deciding whether they want to keep working under the Trump administration. In response, federal alumni groups have started offering employment resources and connecting each other with job leads. And at a time when many former and current government workers feel smeared by members of the Trump administration’s remarks about them, these groups have become a source of professional support that seems to have disappeared from government workplaces. For more on the alumni groups supporting laid off and current government workers, keep reading here.—TC | 
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