The Trump administration is intensifying its sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce by ordering agencies to lay off all probationary employees who had not yet gained civil service protection.

Workers across the federal government were terminated on Thursday after the federal government’s human resources division advised agencies to lay off most probationary employees.

The Trump administration broadened its effort to terminate thousands of probationary workers on Thursday, instructing agencies on a call to move forward with the layoffs.

Office of Personnel Management officials met with agency leaders and advised them to dismiss probationary employees, according to a person familiar with the matter. Hundreds of thousands of people could be affected,