Mark Nardone knew he had to do something after watching numerous government scientists lose their jobs as a result of the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the federal workforce.
So the veteran scientist at Bio-Trac, which offers training workshops in laboratory research techniques, collaborated with Montgomery College to offer a job fair and networking event Monday at the college’s Bioscience Education Center at its Germantown campus.
“What’s happening right now doesn’t make sense to me. It’s ridiculous. I see these scientists with intellectual wealth and knowledge that have been released,” said Nardone, program manager at Bio-Trac, which has a partnership with the college. “I wanted to do something. I thought it was important, so I put this initiative together.”
More than 70,000 federal workers live in the county and the Trump administration’s layoffs and firings have already impacted more than 1,000 residents, according to county officials. That number does not include federal workers who reside in neighboring jurisdictions and work at agencies based in the county, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in White Oak or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Silver Spring.
Last week, the administration announced it would cut 20,000 jobs as part of a major restructuring of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Nardone, in collaboration with the college’s biotechnology program, brought together more than a dozen companies in the Washington, D.C., area’s scientific community to talk about career opportunities with fired or laid-off government workers.
Around 140 people attended Monday’s job fair and networking event, according to Tommy Luginbill, executive director of The Pinkney Innovation Complex for Science and Technology at Montgomery College.
Attendees had the opportunity to speak with recruiters from numerous companies, including AstraZeneca, Illumina, Meso Scale Diagnostics, Charles River Laboratories, Bora Pharmaceuticals and MilliporeSigma.
Catherine Sullenberger, an FDA contract employee, said she attended the job fair because her year-long contract will not be renewed, meaning she will only be employed until September. She said events like the job fair are a big help to her and others in similar situations during these “uncertain times.”
“This was a wonderful event to find, and it’s been great to make connections. Everybody’s been really great, providing a lot of information and a lot of help,” Sullenberger said. “I would encourage people to look for similar things.”
An NIH employee, who did not want to be identified, said he took the day off from work to attend the job fair. “I was fired and then unfired, so I don’t trust that I’m going to continue working there much longer,” he said.
He said he found the job fair’s focus on government scientists to be particularly beneficial because “the stuff that I specialize in is kind of hard to find.”
Luginbill said he expects that job seekers who spoke to recruiters at the fair should, at the very least, be offered interviews since all of the participating companies are hiring.
In addition to providing career resources, the job fair also provided an opportunity to connect and find a sense of community.
“What’s kind of nice is that they were just in a room with 140 other people who also lost their jobs and a lot of people who are willing to help them, so I think that’s the best thing that we could all do here,” Luginbill said.
Nardone said Monday’s event was truly about making personal connections. He noted that numerous people approached him during the job fair to thank him for organizing the event.
“This is personal for me. Having been at the NIH for 30 years and immersed in the scientific culture for 40 years, I have a lot of respect for these individuals, and they need to be treated with respect, so I want to make a difference,” Nardone said. “I can’t change the world, but hopefully, this is going to change something for someone.”
