Trump administration plans large layoffs, targets 10K jobs in health dept

The jobs cuts come after around 10,000 employees have already opted to leave the department through so-called voluntary separation letters

Amid sweeping cost-cutting measures by the Trump administration, facilitated by the Elon Musk-driven Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is set to lay off about 10,000 workers, marking a significant reduction in the federal workforce.  The proposed plan is a part of a broader strategy to slash government spending. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is likely to announce the significant cut on Thursday (March 27), the Wall Street Journal reported, citing documents.

 

The proposal involves the firing of 10,000 full-time employees across departments largely tasked with responding to disease outbreaks, approving new drugs, providing insurance, among other services, the Journal report said. The move also involves entirely closing some regional offices.

 

 

The jobs cuts come after roughly 10,000 employees have already opted to leave the department since Trump took office, through so-called voluntary separation offers sent to federal government workers.

 

According to the report, if the current plan is fully implemented, then, combined with the voluntary departures, the department's workforce would shrink to 62,000 people.

 

On the chopping block

 

After taking office on January 20, President Trump and Musk have embarked on a mission to slash the federal workforce in an attempt to save on government spending.

 

On March 18, Forbes reported that the Department of Defense is looking to cut between 50,000 and 60,000 civilian employees. This comes after an appeals court upheld a ruling ordering the Trump administration to reverse tens of thousands of firings across government agencies.

 

Earlier on March 11, the Department of Education announced that it would begin the process of laying off half of its workers, or about 2,000 employees. Along similar lines, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is preparing to fire over 1,000 employees in the second round of layoffs that is expected to impact about 10 per cent of its workforce.

 

In another major overhaul, the Department of Veterans Affairs has also planned to cut over 80,000 workers. The planned layoffs will begin in June. The attempts at laying of such large numbers of workers is reportedly to return to 2019 staffing levels, just before Trump demitted office.

 

According to a report in the Associated Press, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the US is drafting plans to cut as much as half of its 90,000-strong workforce.

 

Layoffs like never before

 

According to a report by Reuters on March 6, the number of layoffs announced by US employers have jumped to levels not seen since the last two recessions, adding that that the federal government accounted for the bulk of the firings.

 

Citing global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, it said that planned job cuts vaulted 245 per cent to 172,017 in February, the highest level since July 2020, when the economy was in the grips of the Covid-19 pandemic. It was also the highest total for the month since the global financial crisis 16 years ago, the report said.

 

"The government has laid off about 62,530 workers in the first two months of the year, a whopping 41,311 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2024," it said.

 

President Trump's recent threats of tariffs, including reciprocal ones, in different sectors including auto and steel, combined with the economic uncertainty surrounding these, is also likely to impact new hirings by companies.