“We’re moving in a new direction.” “We’re undergoing a restructure.” “This is our year of efficiency.” “We’re headed in a different place right now.” “The company is undergoing downsizing to reduce waste.”

How many times have you received a notice or email that included any of these lines? The anxiety creeps and your heart starts pounding because you already know what follows…you’re fired.

Or at least, you’re on the chopping block and can expect your role to be eliminated at any moment.

We’ve barely completed the first quarter of 2025, and already the workplace is experiencing major upheavals. BP is cutting 5% of its workforce as part of its “simplify and focus” plan, and joins companies like Meta and Bridgewater Associates, who announced plans to cut 5% and 7% of their headcount respectively.

And to add to 2025’s unfolding workplace drama, newly appointed President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday forcing all federal workers to cease working remotely, or they will be fired, with some exemptions being permissible. This news comes on the heels of Amazon’s five-days-a-week RTO policy implementation as of January 1, according to Business Insider.

Trump’s executive order could potentially impact 1.1 million federal employees who are eligible to work remotely (out of the 2.28 million government workers)—228,000 of them who are already fully remote, based on figures from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)’s report to Congress in August 2024.

The goal?

To ultimately shrink the federal workforce in line with the goals of the newly-created government thinktank and temporary Department of Government Efficiency, nicknamed DOGE, which is focused on slashing costs and expenditure of resources across government agencies by 2026.

In fact, tech mogul Elon Musk who heads the operation, stated in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed alongside Vivek Ramaswamy that “requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome,” referring to the loophole in statutory civil-service protections that allows “reductions in force” that don’t target specific employees. “If federal employees don’t want to show up, American taxpayers shouldn’t pay them for the Covid-era privilege of staying home,” he said.

The intent behind forcing eligible federal workers and current fully-remote government employees to work remotely five days a week comes as no surprise. Other major companies such as Amazon have been suspected of quiet firing in an effort to drive efficiency (quiet firing is the practice of creating hostile, demotivating, or other negative conditions at work that create a condition where employees voluntarily hand in their resignations, which reduces the need to go through the process and consultations associated with firing).

A recent ResumeTemplates survey of 1,000 U.S. managers found that “45% of companies anticipate layoffs in 2025, with many citing economic concerns, AI automation, and the incoming Trump administration’s policies as influencing factors.” Additionally, a recent Pew Research Center survey noted that nearly half (46%) of remote workers say they would readily leave their job if no longer permitted to work from home.

Although of course, labor unions and others are using their rights to sue and push back against anti-remote work policies such as those advocated and enforced by Trump and his allies, the fact remains that incidents like these create hostility towards professionals who already work from home, and a culture of remote work being taboo.

How To Find Remote Jobs In 2025

If you’re a federal employee (or work at a company that’s in the process of enforcing RTO mandates) and you work from home in a hybrid arrangement, or are 100% remote, here are a few steps you should take now so you can continue to work remotely and feel supported in your goals:

1. Take Care Of Your Mental Health

First, it’s OK to feel enraged, slighted, and hurt after providing years of service to the same employer and consistently being a high performer, especially if you’re a public servant. It’s natural to feel shock and anxiety during moments like these. This is why it’s critical now, more than ever before, to take care of your mental wellbeing and take time to breathe, and acknowledge and express your feelings.

Find or create a support network. Take up a new hobby. Throw yourself into something healthy that will distract you from your current employment situation. Understand that it’s fine to not have everything together in your life, and what you’re feeling is likely what thousands of other workers are feeling right now.

2. Consider A Career Pivot

Whenever you hear about a “restructuring” or “flattening structures” within the workforce of your company, consider it a time for change—not just for them, but for you. If they can head in a new direction, so can you. It’s time to shift your perspective and, although it’s easier said than done, view it positively, because this is your chance to rediscover yourself. After all, you are the architect of your future. No one, not even an employer that you’ve held a decades-long commitment to, has the right or power to control your life and whether or not you achieve your career and financial goals.

Sometimes, major negative events occur in our lives so that we can rethink the meaning of our existence. It gives us time to pause and reflect about whether we want to continue working in the same role, or whether it’s time to try something new. Your challenge is to use this as an opportunity to reinvent yourself and try something new.

Take time for your hobbies and try online personality tests and quizzes to understand your core values and passions. This can help you shift your focus from seeing your current employment situation as a negative thing, to actually viewing it as a catalyst for positive change in your life. This is because often, you won’t progress in your career and fulfil your potential until you’re uncomfortable with your work environment.

Discomfort creates change.

3. Rebrand Yourself

Next, it’s time to dust off your resume and LinkedIn profile and update them. In fact, go ahead and give them a total overhaul.

If you’re serious about finding remote work, you need to be proactive about displaying the right skills in your resume—especially skills that are in high demand for most remote jobs, like roles in marketing, project management, and AI.

4. Use Remote Job Boards

Although you can use traditional sites like Indeed, Monster, and ZipRecruiter to find remote jobs, it’s much easier to locate them through job boards that specialize in remote and flexible work such as FlexJobs, We Work Remotely, and Remote.co. Additionally, the start-up incubator Y Combinator has a job board on its website that is constantly being updated for remote jobs at start-ups.

And of course, don’t forget to reach out to your network and strategically build new connections.

5. Start Freelancing

Freelancing is a viable and increasingly popular alternative to traditional employment. There are expected to be more than 86 million freelancers (half the U.S. workforce) by 2027, so why not use your skills to join them and make money? As a freelancer, you have more control over your hours and location of employment, so this is highly favorable for remote work, and you can start building your freelance business immediately. The success of your freelance business is in proportion to your expertise, marketing, and research, and will grow as fast as the hours and effort you put in.

Remote work and hybrid working isn’t over in 2025. By following the advice in this article, you can continue to prioritize your wellbeing, spend time with loved ones, make more money, and cut the headache and costs of commuting as you embrace this new way to work.