Mold Remediation in Dayton, OH

The Trump administration is trying to drastically reduce the size and payroll of the federal government, which is the nation’s single largest employer that has tens of thousands of civilian employees in Ohio.

Federal agencies and departments with sizable workforces in the Buckeye State have already cut employees or positions or plan major job reductions across the nation, like the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration. Many departments and agencies have been directed to cut costs and reduce payrolls.

Southwest Ohio potentially could be hit hard. Labor data indicate that nearly one in four federal civilian employees in Ohio are in Montgomery, Greene and Miami counties.

Jeff Hoagland, president and CEO of the Dayton Development Coalition, said the federal workforce is very important to the Dayton region’s economy.

“We’re always concerned when private companies or the public sector consider layoffs, but we believe any affected employees will be well positioned for job opportunities within the region,” Hoagland said. “We hope impacted individuals will continue to grow their careers in Ohio.”

Some people also worry about the potential impact to government services if agencies see major job cuts.

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the world’s richest man who is heavily involved in the Department of Government Efficiency, are trying to take a chainsaw to federal payrolls.

The Trump Administration has eliminated job positions, fired probationary workers and wants to lay off substantial numbers of federal civilian employees in the near future.

ExploreUncertainty for local federal workers amid ‘largest mass layoff’ in US history

About 83,500 workers in Ohio were employed by the federal government at the end of 2024, which equates to about 1.5% of the state’s nonfarm payrolls, says survey data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

This estimate does not include active-duty military personnel but counts the nearly 23,000 workers employed in the state by the U.S. Postal Service.

About one in 20 workers in the Dayton region were employed by the federal government at the end of last year (5% of the total workforce), or about 20,000 civilians, federal survey data show.

The Dayton metro area has a higher share of federal employees than any other urban center in the state. And just 29 of 387 U.S. metro areas across the nation have a higher share of federal civilian employees than the Dayton region, says BLS data.

Data from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management show that Ohio was home to slightly more than 56,000 federal civilian employees in September 2024, according to data published in late February.

This count does not include workers employed by the U.S. Postal Service, intelligence agencies and some parts of the legislative and judiciary branches of government. OPM data also excludes contractors and contract employees.

The VA had the most civilian employees in the state — 17,930, OPM data says. The Dayton VA Medical Center alone has more than 2,300 full-time employees.

The VA recently laid off more than 1,400 probationary employees in what it called “non-mission critical positions,” which the department said should save about $83 million annually.

The VA is considering eliminating about 80,000 jobs across the department’s national footprint. The VA had about 482,000 employees in September.

OPM data indicate that the Department of the Air Force has about 15,525 civilian employees in Ohio; the Department of Defense has 9,525; and the Department of the Army has 1,650.

Other federal agencies with substantial numbers of civilian workers in the state included the IRS (1,225 employees); NASA (1,545); the Social Security Administration (1,340); the Federal Aviation Administration (1,050); and the EPA (586), OPM data state.

The Trump Administration has already cut more than 6,000 jobs from the IRS and about 1,000 from the National Park Service (which last fall had about 260 employees in Ohio). Locally, about six permanent NPS positions were eliminated from the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park.

The Social Security Administration recently announced plans to eliminate about 7,000 of its 57,000 employees across the nation.

The U.S. offices of personnel management and management and budget sent a memo in late February to the heads of all executive departments and agencies that says they should prepare to make large-scale job reductions.

The memo says agency heads need to develop agency reorganization plans by March 13 that should seek to reduce full-time employee headcounts by “eliminating positions that are not required.”

The memo also says reorg plans should seek to increase productivity and reduce agencies’ real property footprints and budget toplines.

The Social Security Administration, like other agencies that have been directed to shrink expenses, said its reorg plan will reduce costs and heavily focus on “mission critical work.”

Credit: AP

The Trump Administration also has axed hundreds of FAA jobs and plans to make major budget cuts to the EPA and wants to eliminate the Department of Education.

Hoagland, with the Dayton Development Coalition, said the coalition is in communication with Air Force leadership to monitor the status of job reductions to civilian, military and contract workers at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

He said the coalition is working with state officials and federal delegates to ensure Wright-Patt can continue its important national defense work.

“In keeping with President Trump’s executive order which gives agency heads the authority to exempt positions necessary to meet national security responsibilities, we request that exemptions for critical personnel at Wright-Patterson be granted,” he said.

ExploreTrump news this week — how our region is impacted

Hoagland also said he believes any local workers affected by job cuts will have other job opportunities in this region.

“The Dayton region and Ohio have a strong job market for skilled professionals,” he said.

Many federal jobs have pretty good pay, though research suggests that similar jobs in the private sector pay more. OPM data says the average annual salary of federal civilian employees in Ohio was nearly $106,000.

However, about one third of employees in the state earned less than $80,000 annually, and seven in 10 had an annual salary below $120,000.

More than half of the federal civilian workforce in the state is 45 and older (54%).The average length of service of all federal civilian employees in the state was nearly 12 years.

The workforce is almost evenly split between males (51%) and females (49%).

Dayton City Manager Shelley Dickstein said the city is very closely monitoring DOGE activities and federal job reductions.

“There are enormous numbers of jobs that they are talking about cutting,” she said. “My question is, how is that going to impact the economy — local, state, federal?”

Number of federal civilian employees in Ohio by agency/department

Note: This count does not include workers employed by the U.S. Postal Service, intelligence agencies and some parts of the legislative and judiciary branches of government. Adding those departments brings the county closer to 83,000.

Department of Veteran Affairs: 17,930

Department of the Air Force: 15,520

Department of Defense: 9,525

Department of the Army: 1,650

Department of the Treasury (IRS, etc): 1,620

NASA: 1,546

Social Security Administration: 1,340

Department of Transportation: (FAA, etc.): 1,180

Department of Agriculture: 1,090

Department of Health and Human Services (CDC, etc.): 940

Environmental Protection Agency: 585

Department of Commerce (US Census Bureau, etc): 450

Department of Interior (National Park Service, etc.): 430

Department of Homeland Security (FEMA, etc.): 385

Department of Labor: 370

Department of Justice (Bureau of Prisons, etc.): 315

Department of Energy: 185

Department of the Navy: 180

General Services Administration: 160

Department of Housing and Urban Development: 110

Small Business Administration: 95

National Archives and Records Administration: 70

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: 50

Department of Education: 50

National Labor Relations Board: 45

Office of Personnel Management: 30

National Credit Union Administration: 25

Federal Trade Commission: 20

Total federal civilian employment in Ohio: 56,070

SOURCE: U.S. Office of Personnel Management

In Other News

1The Big Hoopla: STEM Challenge brings 1,500 kids to Wright State campus2 How to watch March Madness: UD Arena staff prep court ahead of First...34 Main Street remains closed after part of building next to Stratacache...5 Good day for an umbrella: Showers continue today, but sunshine returns...

Traffic issues can be reported by calling our newsroom at 937-259-2237 or tweeting @WHIOTraffic.

Major Highway Incidents

Street Incidents

Latest traffic conditions also are available on our traffic map

» RELATED: Track the latest weather conditions on our Live Doppler 7 HD Radar

Cheapest gas prices across the area according to GasBuddy.com:

Lowest Area Gas Prices

NOTE: Some locations report gas prices even when they are closed, under construction, or are otherwise not open for business. We recommend reaching out to a location to confirm they're open before making a trip.

© 2020 Cox Media Group

Danny Tipton, a Wright-Patterson Air Force Base retiree, was first in line at 10 p.m. the previous evening, adding that he’s on the hunt for some apparel.

“I wanted to be the first one to enjoy Dick’s Sporting Goods,” he said. “I like the history of it, and I could use some thermal underwear.”

Others started joining him about 4 a.m., Tipton said, though adding that his 10-hour campout was “absolutely worth it.”

“I’ve met some good people,” he said.

The Beavercreek Dick’s House of Sport store is the 21st of its type nationwide, said Field Marketing Manager Kevin Troklus. It goes far beyond the typical Dick’s sporting goods store, with many extra features.

The over 100,000-square-foot facility includes a rock climbing wall, multiple golf bays with TrackMan simulators, and batting cages that can be used for baseball, softball, lacrosse and soccer.

The store also has a 17,000-square-foot outdoor turf field, where kids can try out cleats, shoes and equipment to determine if they fit well, or are suitable for their sport.

“We thought about what would make a store stand out from just a normal shopping experience, where an athlete could come in and try and test the product out, at no other place than House of Sport,” Troklus said.

Bellbrook resident Ben Forshee said he and his family came to the grand opening at the urging of his young daughter Pearl, who wants to play basketball.

“I think it’s awesome. All our kids are in sports. We walked around yesterday and it seems like they’ve got a much wider selection of stuff,” he said.

Opening weekend activities include giveaways for gift cards for adults, DSG soccer balls for children and entries for a cash prize.

Three high-profile current and former Ohio athletes were scheduled to be at the grand opening weekend:

* Chris Olave, NFL wide receiver for the New Orleans Saints and former Ohio State Buckeyes great, was set to sign autographs from 6-7:30 p.m. Friday;

* Cincinnati Bengals rising star running back Chase Brown will be there from noon-1:30 p.m. Saturday;

* Hall of Fame former Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench will appear from 12:30-2 p.m. Sunday.

Dick’s House of Sport currently operates stores in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. Dick’s plans to have between 75 and 100 new concept locations by 2027.

UPDATED 1-30-25

Passengers on the plane involved in the Washington DC crash last night were traveling from Wichita, Kansas were part of the US Skating National Development Team, a training program for top juvenile figure skaters.

Statement from U.S. Figure Skating:

“U.S. Figure Skating can confirm that several members of our skating community were sadly aboard American Airlines Flight 5342, which collided with a helicopter yesterday evening in Washington, D.C.

These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas

We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts. We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available.”

Russian state media reported that ice skating coaches and former world champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were among those on board the plane.

(1-29-25) Just today an announcement from PSA Airline, a regional airline, that is a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Airlines Group is moving its corporate headquarters to Charlotte from Dayton, Ohio.

The airline said it would be moving to the Water Ridge Office Park, located along Water Ridge Parkway and just five miles away from Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

FOX 11 Los Angeles

What we know from reports…

FAA STATEMENT: “A PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet collided in midair with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter while on approach to Runway 33 at Reagan Washington National Airport around 9 p.m. local time. PSA was operating Flight 5342 as American Airlines. It departed from Wichita, Kansas.” “The FAA and NTSB will investigate. The NTSB will lead the investigation.”

Mid-air collision between a helicopter and commercial jet on approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Rescue boats are scanning the Potomac River.

10 News First

Do you remember….

In 1961, the plane carrying the U.S. team to the World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia crashed, killing all passengers, including the team members, officials, and family members on board.

9NEWS