ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Times are tough for thousands of federal employees working at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, but it appears there is light at the end of the tunnel.

“We just really don’t know... just trying to be positive and be hopeful and look forward to going back to work assuming that’s going to happen,” a CDC employee said.

This CDC employee received a text message from her supervisor Wednesday afternoon informing her she would need to report to work on Thursday if the government shutdown ends.

“So happy to be able to go back, but so unsure and unprepared and surprised and nervous,” she said.

For the past 40 plus days, many furloughed federal workers have been working extra jobs just to make ends meet.

“I know a lot of people who got side gigs, who got extra jobs, who applied for jobs whether it was driving for Uber or doing DoorDash or working as a Nanny or walking dogs for neighbors. People were just really finding what they could to pay the bills,” she said.

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote in favor of ending the government shutdown Wednesday evening, and President Trump will likely sign off on it.

“Not only were people not getting pay checks that they were expecting through this time. Now there’s a question of, ‘Will we?’ And we still don’t know,” she said.

According to the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act, furloughed federal workers will receive back pay at the earliest date possible once the shutdown ends.

“If the update gets to the president, and he approves it today, we are expected back to work the next day,” she said.

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