u/Additional-Hurry-461

Anyone else feel stuck in this kind of gray area because of where you live?

Most of my relevant experience is with CMS/HHS, but I live more than 50 miles from an office, and unfortunately there aren't any regional offices anywhere near me. Most of the CMS job openings I see are centered around Woodlawn, which would be about a 3-hour drive each way for me.

With the push to return to the office, I feel like my location alone makes it nearly impossible for me to even be considered for positions that match my experience. Remote work gave people like me access to opportunities we otherwise simply don't have.

Where I live, the majority of nearby jobs are industrial work, warehouses, gas stations, fast food, and similar positions. Moving isn't really a realistic solution either. It's hard to save enough to relocate when the jobs available locally often don't pay a sustainable living wage in the first place.

I haven't been on here in a while, but I wanted to come back and say that even more than a year and a half later, the impact is still being felt by some of us.

It's honestly discouraging to look through job postings and repeatedly realize that either the position is too far away to reasonably commute five days a week, or the local jobs available pay nowhere near enough.

Taking away remote work doesn't affect everyone equally. For people who live far from major employment hubs, it can completely shut the door on careers they're qualified for.

Anyone else dealing with this?

I’m so tired of this administration, HHS, and CMS! I swear it’s so messed up they can do us so dirty and move on like nothing ever happened. Especially after being fired for some bogus reason. Then you apply for your same job and can’t even make a freaking cert!
Then the justice system takes its sweet time while everything and everyone keeps moving forward.
The first judge should have ordered the probationary employees to be rehired after he found it to be illegal. What type of bs are they going to be able to offer us after so many years go by?
I’m just so freaking tired of having to barely scrape by and survive. The job market is shot, I live in the middle of nowhere without many options aside from industrial and fast food. Why do I have to lose everything I own after being illegally fired and there is not any recourse immediately available.

More than a year after being separated from federal service, I received my first full-time job offer. Except, it wasn’t a great feeling.

I have been crying on and off since earlier, not from joy, but feelings of grieving what I lost. 1) The job is in a completely different line of work 2) Im not even making half of what I made in my federal role. It is a step up from my part time salary at the same employer, but I’m still not elated. I had worked so hard to get to where I was in my career to have it all ripped away in an instant. I have been pushed back skill wise and pay more than 15 years in my career.

I’m missing out on so much professional opportunity and feel that I’m stuck, like I have to accept this offered position. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for being given the opportunity, but I’m still just so sad and feel even more depressed than ever since learning I will be reclassified as full-time.

I’m so tired of waiting for better days.