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Report: 10,000+ STEM Ph.D.s Exit Federal Agencies in 2025
Federal agencies lost 10,109 STEM and health Ph.D. experts in 2025 due to budget cuts, layoffs, and restructuring, with departures tripling from 2024, OPM data show.
- Last year, some 10,109 doctoral-trained experts left federal jobs, White House Office of Personnel Management data posted earlier this month shows.
- At most agencies, retirements and voluntary quits were the most common reasons for departures, although outside pressures like fear of being fired and buyout offers likely influenced many, OPM shows.
- Across 14 research agencies, the NIH recorded more than 1,100 departures last year, and NSF had a net reduction of 205 STEM Ph.D.s, representing 40% of its pre-Trump workforce.
- Departing Ph.D. employees took with them subject-matter expertise and institutional knowledge, as losses surged in 2025 with all 14 agencies losing more STEM Ph.D.s than in 2024.
- At NSF, 45% of the 204 STEM Ph.D.s who left last year were rotators, and the agency eliminated three-quarters of those positions, reducing rotators' share to 26% by 30 November 2025.
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15 Articles
15 Articles
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources15
Leaning Left2Leaning Right1Center3Last UpdatedBias Distribution50% Center
Bias Distribution
- 50% of the sources are Center
50% Center
L 33%
C 50%
R 17%
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