WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday intensified its sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce, the nation’s largest employer, by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who had not yet gained civil service protection — potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers.

Since President Donald Trump began his second term last month, he has focused on dramatically reducing the federal workforce at a breakneck pace. From dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development to offering a mass deferred resignation plan,

The Trump administration has begun firing thousands of federal employees as part of a sweeping workforce restructuring.

Efforts to downsize the federal workforce can benefit companies, while posing new challenges for the former government employees who want to re-enter the job market.