It’s no secret that long-running federal contracts are falling by the wayside, leaving hundreds – if not thousands – of Texans joining the unemployment line. In the latest, a two-decade long deal between the U.S. Department of Defense and a Texas contractor is coming to a close. Nearly 300 San Antonio workers will feel the impact.
J & J Worldwide Services – an Austin-founded company specializing in federal and defense building operations contracts – first struck a deal with the DoD in 2001. They’ve been keeping military sites across, seemingly, every military base in Texas operational ever since. They’ve won multimillion dollar bids for federal contracts for operations, elevator repairs, building upgrades and more for decades.
For one San Antonio facility, that tenure is coming to an abrupt end: The federal contract to run maintenance and operations at BAMC, the largest in-patient hospital owned and operated by the U.S. Army. It’s located in the Alamo City. It’s also the only Level 1 trauma center across the entire DOD’s operations – a point which can cause some shocking bills for civilians transferred to the site for life-saving care (it nabbed one man a $1 million medical bill he’s still trying to get resolved.)
Because of this contract end, 279 San Antonio employees contracted for operation and maintenance services will be without a job by November 30.
A trauma patient is treated at Brooke Army Medical Center in this 2015 photo. ER care at BAMC’s Level I trauma center will continue even though the hospital is suspending elective surgeries. (Lisa Krantz /Staff file photo)
“The planned layoffs at certain client facilities in San Antonio result from the client’s decision not to renew its facilities management contract with us for these sites. The layoffs are limited to facilities management employees working for that one client and no positions in CBRE corporate offices are affected. CBRE continues to operate a strong business in San Antonio,” a CBRE spokesperson told MySA.
CBRE is the world’s largest commercial real estate company – a former commercial arm of the well-known Coldwell Banker real estate company before it’s merger with Richard Ellis Limited in 1998 – with a rapidly expanding San Antonio presence. CBRE, headquartered in Dallas, bought J & J Worldwide Services in February of last year for $800 million.
It seems this won’t be a trend across the stack of government contracts J & J racked up over its years of operation at the hand of CBRE. It’ll be left to the DOD and other federal agencies to decide whether to keep the decades-long deals going or not.
In scouring through years of federal contracts with J & J, it seems the maintenance and operation contract with BAMC was last inked and extended in July of 2022 for $42 million. A modification was made to up the contract by $15.38 million in July of last year. Though, the contract was set to expire, and thus up for reconsideration and public bidding, in July of 2025. Clearly, the federal agency decided to look elsewhere.
“The burn unit at BAMC treats primarily civilian patients,” Trinity health care administration professor Mary Stefl says. “This is an example of wonderful cooperation between the military and civilian sector in ways that benefit both. It provides training for military doctors and clearly benefits the community.” Trinity health care administration professor Mary Stefl (William Luther /Staff file photo)
According to a letter filed by CBRE with the Texas Workforce Commission, the nearly 300 employees being laid off will work their last day with the company on November 30. Though, CBRE told the state these employees may have a chance to jump ship to the new company BAMC contracts with. Though, this would likely mean any tenure-based benefits, if there are any, would be lost, and it’d presumably be like starting over with any other company.
MySA reached out to a BAMC spokesperson for comment, including information on impacts and any replacement contracts, but did not hear back by publication time.
This certainly isn’t the first time federal contract cuts and renegotiations have impacted Texans, or even San Antonio residents specifically. In 2025, a San Antonio-based nonprofit which defends and guides migrants fleeing dire circumstances, RAICES, had to lay off 200 employees as feds pulled back funding in the way of federal crackdown on immigration under President Donald Trump.
“Our fight to protect immigrants just go a lot harder. The Trump Administration is intent on ripping families apart – families that are the foundation of what makes this nation great,” RAICES’s homepage said at the time of the announcement, calling for donations. “But we’ve been here before. We’ve fought back – and won. With your support, we will continue to win.”
This comes at a time when unemployment and mass layoff rates continue to climb. In San Antonio alone, medical and manufacturing workers have seen mass layoffs in 2025 alongside those impacted by federal cuts and contract trades. BAMC itself was impacted by these cuts back in February when federal budget rein-ins shut down one of their pharmacies, sparking outrage among older military veterans.
This article originally published at Wave of mass layoffs hit hundreds of Texans in San Antonio.