As a result of BOP’s announcement, some employees have already left their positions. At a federal medical center in Lexington, Kentucky, for example, several doctors and physician assistants have put in their resignation letters. Others plan to resign in the coming days.

Even more employees are expected to leave once the incentive cuts kick in, according to Brandy Moore White, president of AFGE’s Council of Prisons Locals. Moore White said she has received hundreds of calls and messages from correctional officers who intend to leave once the pay incentives are cut.

“Officers are telling me, ‘This is the only thing that’s keeping me at the prison. If this goes away, or is reduced, I’m walking,’” Moore White said in an interview. “With all of the talk of reductions in force for the government, and we’re already short-staffed, and now this on top of it — it’s just a lot. People are scrambling, and it’s very frustrating.”