To reach the goal of a 5% to 8% cut in a civilian workforce of more than 900,000, the official said, the department aims to slash about 6,000 positions a month by simply not replacing workers who routinely leave.
A key concern is that service members may then be tapped to fill those civilian jobs. But the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide personnel details, said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wants to ensure the cuts don't hurt military readiness.
The department is using three ways to accomplish the workforce cuts: voluntary resignations, firing probationary workers and cutting jobs as employees routinely leave. The official said the military services and Pentagon officials are going over the personnel on a case-by-case basis to ensure cuts don't affect critical national security jobs.
