The new head of the SBA, Kelly Loeffler, aims to restore staffing levels to those before the pandemic and discontinue certain programs initiated during the Biden administration.
NEW YORK — The Small Business Administration said it will cut its workforce by 43%, or about 2,700 jobs, as part of a reorganization.
Established in 1953, the SBA provides resources to small businesses and facilitates small business and disaster recovery loans. Throughout the pandemic, it played a vital role in disbursing aid to small businesses. Loeffler stated that the objective now is to return to pre-pandemic staffing levels and eliminate some programs implemented during the Biden administration.
“Through the elimination of non-essential positions and the consolidation of functions, we will seek to revert to the staffing levels seen in the last Trump Administration,” Loeffler noted in a statement released on Friday.
The SBA said its loan guarantee and disaster assistance programs, as well as its field and veteran operations, won’t be affected. The staffing reductions, which will cull 2,700 jobs from the agency’s workforce of 6,500, will be a combination of voluntary resignations, the expiration of COVID-era and other term appointments, and some job cuts.
The layoffs at the federal agency are part of a larger campaign by the Trump Administration to shrink the federal workforce, an effort has been led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
Separately on Friday, Trump announced student loans would be handled by the SBA as part of a plan to shift Education Department responsibilities to other federal agencies. The SBA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
