Nearly 700,000 civilian personnel with the Department of Defense will be forced to take one unpaid furlough day per week for 11 weeks, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced yesterday. The unpaid furlough days are set to begin July 8. When the sequestration budget cuts first kicked in, early estimates were that civilian employees would be forced to take 22 furlough days, a number which was later reduced to 14, now 11. The furloughs will save the Pentagon $1.8 billion through September, which is the end of the fiscal year. Hagel said the number of furlough days may be further reduced, should the department’s financial situation improve.
