The cuts come as part of a larger push across the federal government to slash government workers.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has announced a plan to eliminate 10,000 jobs as part of a restructuring effort. This decision was made public on Thursday.
Under this plan, the agency, which oversees various crucial aspects such as monitoring infectious diseases, inspecting food and hospitals, and managing health insurance programs for a significant portion of the population, intends to reduce its workforce from 82,000 to 62,000 employees. This reduction consists of 10,000 job layoffs and an additional 10,000 employees opting for early retirement or buyout offers that were made available to most federal workers by the Trump administration.
The majority of the job cuts will be focused on the public health sector. The Food and Drug Administration, responsible for establishing standards for the nation’s food and medications, will see a reduction of 3,500 positions. Similarly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which monitors and responds to infectious disease outbreaks, will be cutting 2,400 jobs.
Meanwhile, the National Institutes for Health, the world’s leading public health research agency, will lose 1,200 people. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees health coverage for older and poor Americans, will shed 300 jobs.
