FAYETTEVILLE, NC – A deep sense of anxiety is settling over this military community as veterans and federal employees grapple with the Department of Veterans Affairs’ plan to eliminate 10,000 positions nationwide by the end of 2024.
- Nationwide Workforce Reduction – The Department of Veterans Affairs confirmed its plan to reduce its workforce by approximately 10,000 employees through attrition and targeted hiring freezes.
- Fears of Service Delays – Veterans in Fayetteville, a community with a large retired military population, express concerns that the cuts will lead to longer wait times and reduced access to healthcare and benefits processing.
- Economic and Personal Toll – The planned reduction creates job insecurity for thousands of federal workers and threatens the local economy in a city where the VA is a major employer.
For a town whose identity is inextricably linked with military service, the federal government’s policy decision is not an abstract number but a direct threat to the livelihoods of its residents and the well-being of its heroes.
A Washington Ledger, A Community’s Bill
In Washington D.C., a decision to cut 10,000 jobs is presented as a line item on a budget, a necessary fiscal correction. But in towns whose economies and identities are built on a foundation of military service, that number isn’t an abstraction. It’s a neighbor’s job, a veteran’s access to care, and a test of a long-standing promise made to those who served.
Read On…
Read on for our on-the-ground report from Fayetteville, North Carolina, where the federal government’s decision is creating deep uncertainty for veterans and the community that supports them.
What’s Driving the 10,000 Job Cuts?
The Department of Veterans Affairs has framed the workforce reduction as a necessary “course correction.” Officials state that after a significant hiring surge to implement the PACT Act—a landmark law that expanded benefits for veterans exposed to toxins—the agency is now recalibrating its staffing levels to meet new budget realities. The VA’s total workforce grew by over 60,000 in recent years, reaching a historic high of more than 450,000 employees.
According to VA press secretary Terrence Hayes, the reduction will be managed primarily by not filling vacant positions and through voluntary attrition. However, the agency has not ruled out targeted reductions in force (RIFs), leaving many employees in a state of uncertainty. The goal, officials say, is to streamline operations without impacting the delivery of care. But how is that promise being received outside of Washington?
“Are We Going Backwards?”: Veterans Voice Concerns
In Fayetteville, home to Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg) and a major VA Medical Center, that promise is met with deep skepticism. For veterans like Michael Chen, a retired Army sergeant who relies on the VA for treatment of service-connected respiratory issues, the news feels like a step in the wrong direction.
“We just got the PACT Act, and for the first time in years, it felt like they were finally catching up,” Chen said outside a local VFW post. “Now they’re cutting staff? It makes no sense. I worry we’re going backwards, back to six-month waits for an appointment or a year to get a claim looked at. They’re cutting the lifeline.”
This sentiment is common here. The Fayetteville VA Medical Center serves over 80,000 veterans in a 19-county area. Any reduction in staff, whether administrative or clinical, raises questions about the quality and timeliness of care. Will there be fewer people to answer phones, schedule appointments, or process the complex paperwork required for disability benefits? For many veterans, these are not bureaucratic questions; they are matters of health and survival.
“It Feels Like a Betrayal”: The View From VA Employees
The cuts aren’t just an abstract threat to services; they are a direct threat to the people who provide them. While the VA has emphasized attrition, the possibility of layoffs looms over its workforce. An employee at the Fayetteville VA, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of professional repercussions, described the atmosphere as “tense and demoralized.”
“Most of us who work here are veterans ourselves or come from military families. This isn’t just a job; it’s a mission,” the employee stated. “To hear that our positions are on the chopping block, after everything we did to get the PACT Act running, feels like a slap in the face. It feels like a betrayal of our service to other veterans.”
The economic ripple effect is another major concern. The VA is one of the region’s largest employers. The loss of 100, 200, or more well-paying federal jobs would be a significant blow to the local economy, affecting everything from the housing market to small businesses that rely on the patronage of VA staff. For this community, a federal budget decision is a local economic event, with consequences felt on Main Street as much as in the halls of the medical center.
The Unsettled Ledger of Service
In Washington, the narrative is one of fiscal responsibility and operational efficiency. But in Fayetteville, the story is written in the worried faces of veterans and the uncertainty of federal workers. This is a tension as old as the nation itself—the gap between a policy’s intent and its impact on the ground, where communities built on a promise must brace for the consequences of its revision. The final chapter for these 10,000 positions has yet to be written, but for the people of this town, the stakes are deeply personal.
