There are about 645 probationary employees at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard who are anxiously awaiting news of whether their positions are among those being eliminated in a purge of the federal workforce.

The Department of Defense initially paused the directive from the Office of Personnel Management, but all DOD civilian employees are now required to submit five bullet points on their previous week's achievements.

A temporary hiring freeze — and the prospect of a slashed civilian workforce — are raising fears among labor leaders and the state’s congressional delegation.

Senators and union leaders say Portsmouth Naval Shipyard's thousands of workers should be exempt from Trump administration's job cuts.

About 8,000 civilians who work at the shipyard. Most of them live in Maine and New Hampshire. Whether any will lose their jobs as part of the ongoing federal workforce purge remains unclear.

Federal workers at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, are bracing for potential mass layoffs, union leaders told NBC affiliate NEWS CENTER Maine on Thursday. Alana Schaeffer, president of the Metal Trades Council Union,

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard workers taking buyouts made public as yard implements a pause in hiring. Here's what union leaders say.

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard unions say workers feel strain from "unnecessary uncertainty" over Trump administration's layoffs.

One union leader at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard says it's 'very anxiety inducing when you don't know what's coming around the corner.'

The Pentagon's announcement last week that it plans to lay off 5,400 probationary employees across the country put workers at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on edge.

The Department of Defense isn't immune to those concerns, and leaders at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard are appealing to the administration to spare them.