The Defence Department has said that it's cutting 5,400 probationary workers starting next week and will put a hiring freeze in place. It comes after staffers from the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, were at the Pentagon earlier in the week and received lists of such employees, US officials said Friday. They said those lists did not include uniformed military personnel, who are exempt. Probationary employees are generally those on the job for less than a year and who have yet to gain civil service protection. "We anticipate reducing the Department's civilian workforce by 5-8 per cent to produce efficiencies and refocus the Department on the President's priorities and restoring readiness in the force," Darin Selnick, who is acting undersecretary of defence for personnel and readiness, said in a statement. Probationary employees are generally those on the job for less than a year and who have yet to gain civil service protection. President Donald Trump's administration