Korede Abdullah in Lagos
The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has initiated a major restructuring plan, resulting in the layoff of approximately 10,000 workers across various health agencies.
Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. announced the move yesterday as part of a broader effort to focus more on chronic disease prevention.
Employees reportedly learned of their layoffs early Tuesday morning, with some receiving dismissal notifications via email, while others found their access badges deactivated.
The layoffs affect a wide range of agencies under the HHS, including the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health.
Former FDA Commissioner Robert Califf expressed concern over the layoffs, stating that the agency’s leadership has been significantly weakened, with much of its institutional knowledge now lost.
“The FDA as we’ve known it is finished, with most of the leaders with institutional knowledge and a deep understanding of product development and safety no longer employed,” said Califf.
The restructuring plan also includes the consolidation of 28 divisions into 15, with the creation of a new agency called the Administration for a Healthy America.
Kennedy emphasized that the goal of the downsizing is not only to reduce bureaucracy but to realign the HHS with its new priorities.
“We aren’t just reducing bureaucratic sprawl. We are realigning the organization with its core mission and our new priorities in reversing the chronic disease epidemic,” said Kennedy.
The layoffs are expected to save the department around $1.8 billion annually, a small fraction of its $1.8 trillion annual budget.
At the end of the exercise, the cuts are expected to shrink HHS staffing from 82,000 to 62,000 positions – slashing nearly a quarter of its workforce through a combination of layoffs and early retirement offers.
