Hundreds of US well being company staff laid off in overhaul led by RFK Jr

Hundreds of Well being and Human Providers (HHS) workers throughout the nation had been dismissed on Tuesday because the Trump administration started implementing its controversial workforce discount plan, which might in the end take away 10,000 workers from the division by means of compelled layoffs.

The job cuts mark the primary tangible influence of well being secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s departmental overhaul introduced final week, touchdown simply days after Donald Trump moved to strip collective bargaining rights from staff at HHS and different federal businesses.

Kennedy’s restructuring objective is supposed to dramatically reshape the division that oversees the US’s meals provide, screens illness outbreaks, conducts essential medical analysis, and administers medical insurance for practically half the nation. He has additionally mentioned he’ll create a brand new workplace – “the administration for a wholesome America” – which is supposed to soak up businesses controlling billions of {dollars} in funding that handle dependancy providers and group well being facilities.

When completed, the cuts are anticipated to scale back HHS staffing from 82,000 to 62,000 positions – slashing practically 1 / 4 of its workforce by means of a mix of layoffs and early retirement affords.

Union representatives had been notified final Thursday that 8,000 to 10,000 workers can be terminated, with positions in human sources, procurement, finance and IT focused. Jobs in “excessive price areas” and people deemed “redundant or duplicative” can be prioritized for elimination, in keeping with a discount of power e-mail seen by the Guardian.

The division has outlined particular job losses throughout quite a lot of businesses, together with 3,500 positions on the Meals and Drug Administration (FDA), 2,400 on the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC), 1,200 on the Nationwide Institutes of Well being (NIH), and 300 on the Facilities for Medicare and Medicaid Providers.

Extra particulars quickly …