The federal government has shed more than 84,500 non-postal federal employees since fiscal 2011, according to numbers provided by the Office of Personnel Management.

Agencies cut about 21,500 employees from fiscal 2013 to 2014 alone, according to OPM. About 66 percent — or 55,631 — were full-time employees. OPM does not track Postal Service employees.

The Army has seen the biggest loss of employees at 29,592 while the Air Force came in second at 13,794. The Treasury Department has lost 13,784 employees since fiscal 2011.

But some agencies actually gained jobs during the same time. The VA saw its workforce increase about 10 percent since fiscal 2011 – about 32,000 jobs.

The State Department also saw a small increase of 99 jobs since fiscal 2011.

Those cuts have been hurting customer service at some agencies, such as the IRS, which has seen its budget cut by $1.2 billion since 2010 forcing the agency to cut 13,000 employees.

That has caused a gradual downward spiral in customer service standards and tax oversight duties, according to a recent report by National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson.

William Dougan, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, said attempts by Congress to indiscriminately slash agency budgets has disproportionately hurt federal employees.

"The new report showing nearly 85,000 federal jobs being eliminated since 2011 confirms what we have been hearing across the country; federal agencies are not hiring nearly enough workers to do the business of the American people," Dougan said.

Congress must recognize that its not realistic to cut agency funding and then expect the same level of services, Dougan said.

"When Congress makes deep cuts into federal agency budgets as they have in recent years, both the workers and the American people suffer. We hope the new Congress will recognize the immediate need to stop the hemorrhaging of federal jobs," Dougan said.

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