Trump administration slashing federal jobs and job training in rural areas

The Trump administration is slashing rural jobs and training for disadvantaged teens in rural areas, it announced late last week. The administration is closing Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers in Arkansas, Kentucky, Montana, North Carolina, Oregon, Virginia, Washington state, and Wisconsin. It’s the largest layoffs of civil servants in nearly a decade, according to experts.

The plan will lay off 1,100 federal workers, closing nine centers and privatizing as many as 16. It was a “high-level, pretty quick decision,” Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen told her employees. The rural centers—urban ones will continue to operate—train disadvantaged teens in wildland fire fighting, a subject Donald Trump has shown such interest in and knowledge about (according to himself; to the rest of the world, not so much), and for other natural resources jobs.

“This is a politically motivated attack that oddly enough, offends both Democrats and Republicans in Congress and in communities across the country,” Randy Erwin, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, said in a statement.

from Daily Kos http://bit.ly/2QAhing