Government is not normally constrained by productivity, and in flush times, is wont to hire far in excess of actual numbers of slots that are essential to be filled, by creating a number of “training” or “apprenticeship” openings, originally described as temporary, but over time, tend to become a permanent fixture. Suddenly, faced with a major shortfall of cash flow to pay for all these invented job slots, the organizational charts are examined a little more closely, and the supernumerary slots are sloughed off. As these have been disproportionately filled with “affirmative action” hires, the effect of last hired, first fired, practices hits with devastating impact.
This is the system that has worked so very well for unionized labor for, well, decades, if not centuries. Are you going to rile up the union people to protect a few junior employees?
When NJ towns started laying off employees (when state aid ran out), those laid off were the most recently hired - often affirmative action tokens. They must either apply to Wal-Mart or move; they have no real job skills needed in the dwindling private-sector jobs available.
Government hiring has only served to mask the educational failures of many minorities.