'My heart sank.' MS woman, wife and mother of 2, struggles with federal job termination

‘My heart sank.’ MS woman, wife and mother of 2, struggles with federal job termination

Posted by author March 2, 2025 Jobs

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‘I was at a 4-year-old’s birthday party when I got the news. I got a call on Sunday saying I was terminated and I needed to turn my stuff in by Tuesday because Monday was a holiday.’

A reduction in the federal workforce has dominated headlines in recent weeks as 75,000 employees were reported to have taken buyouts and thousands more were terminated shortly after.

For some, those may seem like little more than numbers as they go about their days without noticing any effects, but for at least one Mississippi woman, the road to government efficiency has all but turned her life upside down.

“I was at my kids’ friend’s birthday party,” said Jessi Katzenmeyer of Brandon. “I was at a 4-year-old’s birthday party when I got the news.

“I got a call on Sunday saying I was terminated and I needed to turn my stuff in by Tuesday because Monday was a holiday. My heart sank.”

Katzenmeyer is a wife and mother of two girls ages 6 and 4. She was a biologist with the U.S. Forest Service working with threatened and endangered species. She attended Northwest Rankin High School and received her master’s degree in wildlife science from Mississippi State University.

She previously worked for USDA Wildlife Services in Florida and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality before finding what she described as her dream job with the USFS.

U.S. Forest Service employee, wife and mother of two young children, loses job of her dreams

“This is heartbreaking,” Katzenmeyer said as she fought through her emotions to speak. “My whole life, this is everything I wanted to do. I had the perfect boss. (He) was amazing.”

The work she did was important to her. She worked with a number of species that are endangered, threatened or proposed to receive protection. She said there isn’t enough manpower to fill the void the loss of her position leaves.

Even before she was terminated there was a shortage of staff.

“There were a lot of vacant positions at my office that were pretty important positions,” Katzenmeyer said. “There are a lot of things that won’t get done. Unfortunately, things will get missed and dropped.”

Losing a job that was so important to her is one thing. Losing the income that came with it is another. Katzenmeyer said her husband and children were on her insurance. She also said she has taken her youngest daughter out of daycare and her oldest out of after-school care because the money to pay for those things just isn’t there.

Katzenmeyer works as a portrait photographer, but that’s for supplemental income and isn’t enough to offset the loss of her job, insurance and retirement benefits.

Terminated federal employee concerned about unemployment benefits

Katzenmeyer also said she is concerned she won’t be eligible for unemployment benefits because of the way her termination letter is worded.

“It hints at poor performance,” Katzenmeyer said. “It has to be no fault of my own to receive unemployment.”

When asked about performance-based terminations and who is eligible for unemployment benefits, the Mississippi Department of Employment Security Communications Department responded with the following email.

“Unemployment Insurance (UI) is a program designed to ease the economic burden of unemployment by providing a temporary source of income for individuals who are unemployed through no fault of their own.

“If someone quits a job, or gets fired, he or she may possibly be eligible for benefits. If it is determined that you were not discharged for misconduct connected with your work, or if you can prove you had good cause for leaving your employment, you may be entitled to benefits.

“Generally, misconduct is an act which is either willful or is an intentional disregard of the employer’s interest.”

Federal employee terminated weeks before probation lifted

While her termination hints at poor performance, Katzenmeyer said that wasn’t the case. Like many others that were let go, she was in a probation period, because she was hired less than a year ago. She had just 38 days to go before her probationary status was removed.

“That’s the way they were able to terminate all probationary employees,” Katzenmeyer said. “I think that was their out to get rid of a lot of people at once.”

How many federal employees in Mississippi were terminated hasn’t been made public. Within the USFS in Mississippi, Katzenmeyer said she knows of others.

“I know of 11, including myself, but I’m sure there were more than that,” Katzenmeyer said. “It could be a larger number. I’m sure it is.”

Loss of job leaves future of biologist uncertain

Those in Mississippi were part of a much larger number nationwide. When asked about the staffing cuts, a U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesperson responded with an email stating the number is in the thousands and were the result of efforts to improve efficiency and to protect taxpayer dollars.

“As part of this effort, USDA has made the difficult decision to release about 2,000 probationary, non-firefighting employees from the Forest Service. To be clear, none of these individuals were operational firefighters.”

While the USDA’s decision may have been “difficult,” it leaves Katzenmeyer in a position that’s even more so.

“I’m just scared,” Katzenmeyer said. “It’s going to be a minute before I find a job.

“It’s just really specialized. It’s just a lot of headache right now, I guess, and a lot of uncertainty.”

Do you have a story idea? Contact Brian Broom at 601-961-7225 or bbroom@gannett.com.