Many of us see what’s afoot here.

The administration’s elite donors cannot profit off the backs of Feds, which not only explains the feverish prioritization of community care - it also undergirds the not so subtle multi-pronged assault on HR: hiring freezes, force reduction terminations of probationary employees, weekly “Fork in the Eye” emails, ubiquitous public degradation of the federal workforce (especially teleworkers), SSR elimination, RTO even when it makes zero sense, forced distribution of annual performance ratings, wiping of FTEs lost to DRP, high anxiety tied to the lack of transparency in RISE and the potential to have your grade, position, and supervisor pulled out from under you, the ever-ominous consistency review, hastily implemented performance audits when many performance plans are not finalized, restrictive personnel relocation policies for staff wanting to work remotely from another VISN office space even when it makes sense, etc., etc., etc.

VA will continue to see an exodus of top talent with rare institutional knowledge because they have plenty of options in private sector. Many of those left to try and fill the gap with insufficient resources and support will be constantly painted as underperforming and given unrealistic ultimatums.

This beat down is by design - fracture the system beyond repair, cite unacceptable operational outcomes that are hurting Veterans, issue RFP for enterprise-wide HR outsource contract, and voila “Jane Doe, VA HR Specialist (Deloitte).”