Several employees are back to work at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery.

The probationary workers were fired earlier this month by the Department of Navy under layoffs ordered by the Department of Government Efficiency.

The reinstatement of the workers comes after a hiring freeze at the shipyard was lifted earlier this week.

The moves follow weeks of uncertainty for the shipyard’s nearly 8,000 workers during hiring freezes and job cuts under the Trump administration.

Last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a loosening of a freeze for certain workers at military outlets.

“While the Department remains under the hiring freeze, DoD will only hire mission essential employees into positions that directly contribute to our warfighting readiness,” said Hegseth, “The Secretaries of the Military Departments may approve hiring freeze exemptions for the civilian workforce of their respective Military Departments after review by the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness.”