By OLIVER MACK
PHOTO credit Adobe Stock photo
City officials are preparing for the economic fallout from the recent rash of layoffs of federal employees
College Park is home to approximately 1,100 federal workers, not including contractors, according to the U. S. Census Bureau. No estimates exist for how many of them have lost their jobs as part of President Donald Trump’s effort to drastically downsize the federal government.
“We are not really prepared for it,” Mayor Fazlul Kabir said. “It looks like all of these [actions] actually came suddenly. It has come in multiple ways.”
Before long, rising unemployment in the city could seriously reduce customer traffic at restaurants, stores and other businesses, officials said.
“We’re going to just see a slowdown in some of the retail activities,” Economic Development Director Michael Williams said. “Normally, if you’re on a budget, you’re probably not going to do as much dining and impulse buying.”
In addition, Kabir said, reducing the size of or closing federal departments could mean the city will receive fewer federal grants and less money from the state and county, which rely, in part, on federal funding.
Federal grants for city projects, like public safety initiatives and the renovation of Attick Towers, for example, are uncertain, Kabir said.
More than 142,000 Maryland residents were employed by the federal government in 2024, not including uniformed military personnel or federal contractors, according to the Office of Personnel Management. The U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey estimated that nearly 47,000 of those federal employees live in Maryland’s 4th congressional district, which includes College Park. That is about 12.2% of the district’s working population.
“We’re really worried about their well being,” Kabir said. “Many of them have lost their jobs, been laid off, and they’re struggling. They’re struggling with finding a job and the house payment, mortgage, tuition fees for their kids. So this is a really worrying time.”
Williams said the city is still in the “calculation phase” of determining the impact on residents and is looking at options to help displaced federal employees. He said the city has been working with U.S. Rep. Glenn Ivey (District 4) to receive real-time updates about activity at the federal level that could affect College Park.
“It’s a tough one,” Williams said. “We don’t know if we’re expecting, you know, 50 residents that maybe have some hardship, or will it be, you know, 500 residents that may experience some hardships?”
Councilmember John Rigg (District 3) said the council is assessing the potential impact of job and funding cuts as the officials consider the city’s fiscal year 2026 budget.
“It’s going to be a really tough time over the next couple of years in College Park,” Rigg said.
Still, Rigg said, student residents make up a large part of College Park’s spending pool and will continue to help boost the economy during a downturn.
“The university and our affiliation with university students, the faculty and the staff will be a continued source of durable economic strength for the city,” Rigg said.
To help mitigate the effects of the layoffs, the University of Maryland (UMD) hosted a career fair at The Hotel in February.
UMD also announced the launch of the Pathways Forward Resource Hub, a program for Marylanders affected by federal layoffs or job transitions. The hub includes professional development education, free career services, a chatbot to connect workers to community resources supporting their specific goals and a networking database for alumni.
The city also offers free mental health care through Care Solace via its website.
Also, the Maryland Department of Labor opened a resource page with unemployment insurance information, job fair listings and other support contacts. And the state created a Maryland Public Servants Resource website in February, where federal workers can find information about unemployment insurance, job fairs, housing and legal resources.
Gov. Wes Moore also promised that the state will work quickly to recruit displaced federal workers into government and teaching positions.
“There’s a high degree of chaos that seems to intercede every day, every week,” Rigg said. “It’s really unclear what the end state is going to be, or what that equilibrium is going to be reached, or what it’s going to look like.”
