The Trump administration on Thursday instructed agencies to lay off most probationary workers who have not secured civil service protection, a move that could potentially impact hundreds of thousands of people, according to the Associated Press.

The move regarding probationary workers, who generally have been working less than one year on the job, came from the Office of Personnel Management, the outlet reported, which said that the notification was confirmed by an individual familiar with the issue.

Fox News Digital reached out to OPM for comment on Friday morning but did not receive a response in time for publication. 

Even the OPM itself is reportedly being impacted. 

“To be perfectly clear: these moves will not negatively impact VA health care, benefits or beneficiaries. In the coming weeks and months, VA will be announcing plans to put these resources to work helping Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors,” Collins added.

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs headquarters as seen in 2014 in Washington, D.C.  (Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The dismissals are effective immediately according to the VA and employees have been notified.

Additional measures have been put in place to ensure VA services are not impacted and an assigned representative in each chain of command can request exemptions.