As many as 80 probation officers in the state Department of Corrections, all recent graduates of a training academy, stand to lose their jobs as a result of budget cuts ordered by the Legislature. The 80 jobs are spread around the state with 20 of them in a region stretching from Pasco to Collier counties.

Affected workers have two options: They can be laid off or accept jobs as prison guards, which pay less money and may be farther from their homes in a time of $4-a-gallon gasoline. (Starting pay for a correctional officer is $30,807). Read the "your position has been deleted" memo sent to affected employees here.