Some United States (US) health agency workers has received job termination emails, while some workers were restricted from accessing the building following their resumption on Tuesday.
Although the number of employees that received the emails were not a certain according to a CNN report, stating the US Department of Health and Human Services are yet to comment.
Recalled that on 12 March, in Atlanta, Georgia, some protesters were seen holding signs outside the organisation’s main headquarters over personnel cuts at the Centres for Disease Control (CDC).
Some employees described their dismissal as unfair and a violation of due process.
The major cut affected multiple agencies, leadership, long-time staffers, scientists and administrators, including the CDC, FDA, and NIH.
As of last week, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. revealed that about 10,000 full-time employees would be relieved, in addition to the thousand that have left and the probationary employees currently on leave.
The move aims to prioritise chronic disease prevention while reducing bureaucracy.
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On Tuesday, thousands of employees—including scientists, administrators, and leadership—were laid off. At the CDC, cuts hit divisions like Occupational Safety, Injury Prevention, Smoking and Health, Violence Prevention, and HIV programmes.
The FDA reduced staff in the Offices of New Drugs, Policy & International Engagement, and Regulatory Programs. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director, Dr Jeanne Marrazzo, was also let go.
The layoffs are part of a broader restructuring that will eliminate 10,000 full-time positions and account for another 10,000 voluntary departures, reducing the workforce from 82,000 to 62,000.
An additional 5,200 probationary employees were terminated earlier.
HHS plans to consolidate several agencies into a new Administration for a Healthy America, merging divisions like the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
