Health And Human Services Department employees in Washington DC collect their belongings after mass layoffs on April 1, 2025. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Julie Fong, a 25-year employee with the Health and Human Services agency in San Francisco, was among the workers who received layoff notices on April 1 as part of a nationwide restructuring plan led by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The overhaul aims to realign HHS with its core mission, potentially affecting up to 10,000 employees. Fong, who worked for the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Program, expressed concern for the potential impact on the public. "We oversee child welfare. We oversee federally funded temporary assistance, community families -- which is welfare. We oversee federally funded child care, child support enforcement. These are the services that serve the taxpayer, and they are gone. The people who administer these programs are gone," Fong said. Full Story: CBS News (4/1)
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About the Editor
Reflections
(Kanoe Namahoe)
Today’s top story hits close to home. Julie Fong, the former HHS employee referenced in the story and summary, is an old friend of mine. We went to high school together. She’s a dear, sweet gal – a dedicated mother, wife, friend and professional. Julie takes her work seriously. I’ve often been inspired by the way she pours herself into others and their lives -- even when those lives are messy and complicated. She pushes that aside to get to the person, to find out what they need and how she can coordinate services that will provide true support. It’s hard work! But Julie brought energy and brains to every person she served. These folks weren’t cases on her desks. They were lives with heartbeats. For more than two months, the news has been flooded with stories of mass federal layoffs. Every time I turned on the news or checked my feeds, another agency was handing out pink skips and closing its doors. After a while, the stories blended together, and the numbers just blurred. I stopped doing more than glance at the headlines. It’s easy to get desensitized in this type of environment. We see the same thing over and over and just stop paying attention. It takes a story like Julie’s to remind us of the human -- of the reality, the tragedy, the grief. As people who manage teams, I don’t think this is something we can afford to do. That doesn’t mean we don’t do our jobs. Layoffs are necessary sometimes. But when we do it, I hope it’s smarter than the Grim Reaper-like approach we’ve seen in recent weeks. Eliminating low performers is smart business. But cutting the champions, the true contributors -- the Julies of the world -- will cut you off at the knees. To the Julies out there, email me. I’d love to hear your story and support you as much as I can. And to all of us in manager roles, may we remember the human in our work. Every day. Do you enjoy this brief? Share it with others. Want different stories? Something about it bug you? Tell me. In the words of Frasier Crane, “I’m listening.”
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