It looks like more cuts are coming to the workers of the U.S. military as more workers are going to be out of a job. These job losses, while to civilian forces instead of to enlisted soldiers, still represent significant job losses.

On Wednesday it was announced that the U.S. Air force would be letting go of civilian staff. These staffers are part of a second wave of civilian layoffs. With these cuts there will be a total of 223 fewer workers at Scott Air Force Base, though it is important to note that some of these jobs are simply being left vacant when employees retire this year.
In the first round of cuts, which occurred back in the month of November 49 positions were cut from the base. In this current round another 174 jobs will either be cut or left to attrition.

The base is not deaf to the issues that cutting jobs creates, in a statement made in the news release Col. Michael Hornitschek, the commander of the 375th Air Mobility Wing, said the following about the job cuts,  “We’re still doing all we can to provide the best information for people to make decisions about their careers. We’re also working to ensure there’s as smooth a transition as possible for those affected. There are tough decisions being made, and we’re all feeling the effects of it. We’re doing all we can to inform and provide the best advice and counsel to our civilian work force.”

These cuts come just weeks after the U.S. Navy decided to layoff a significant number of workers. For those of you who missed our earlier coverage (http://www.layoffwatch.com/2011/11/us-navy-to-layoff-16000/) on those layoffs here is an excerpt:

“Skipping on all of the obvious Village People jokes, most people who were in the navy thought that they were secure in their jobs and it turns out that they were not. Ever since last June about 16,000, primarily those in the middle of their careers, have been waiting to see if they were going to get the pink slip. For a few months it all seemed to be hanging in the air, maybe they would be out and maybe they would be in, but now the ax has fallen and it is coming in two rounds.

The first wave and the second wave will not be far apart. The second wave of lay-offs is expected to be announced near the end of this month, so, as you can imagine there are a lot of sailors who are going to be a little bit unhappy as they go home for the holidays in search of a new career under the Christmas tree.”

On the bright side yesterday also represented the end of the funding cuts that needed to be made to the Air Force for the 2012 fiscal year. Those cuts, which came at the behest of Secretary of Defense, represented a loss of about 9,000 jobs. So, if all goes according to plan than there should be no more need for further job cuts this year.