Government reduces workforce by 1,350 employees within State Department

The United States State Department has announced a significant reorganization, which includes a reduction in its workforce and the closure or consolidation of over 300 offices. The move is aimed at addressing an overly "bloated bureaucracy" according to Trump administration officials.

Approximately 3,000 members of the State Department workforce will be affected by the reorganization, with the initial expectation being around 2,000 layoffs. However, the total reduction will be "nearly 3,000 members of the workforce," the department confirmed.

Foreign service officers will be on paid administrative leave for 120 days, while civil service employees will generally be on paid leave for 60 days. Notably, around 1,100 of these employees are civil service employees.

The impacted offices span various bureaus and departments, including the Bureau of Cyberspace and Policy, Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Bureau of Energy Resources, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Multilateral Trade Affairs office, Office of Agriculture Policy, the refugee resettlement office and the refugee processing center, and offices involved in domestic assignments.

The department has rewritten its own rules for issuing Reduction in Force (RIF) actions, allowing it to lay off employees due to their specific post, region, or bureau and creating nearly 800 new "competitive areas."

The onboarding of new foreign service officers, scheduled for September, may still receive final approval from management to be exempted from the governmentwide hiring freeze.

In a show of support, leaders of the affected bureaus have assured their employees that they will do their best to assist them during this transition. Human resources teams are also assisting impacted employees as they complete the "check out" process, which includes turning over badges and official devices.

The reorganization is expected to affect non-core functions, duplicative or redundant offices, and offices where efficiencies may be found from centralization or consolidation of functions and responsibilities.

One civil servant in the Energy Resources bureau, who was laid off after 19 years of service across three agencies, expressed disappointment at leaving the federal government. However, another civil servant from the same bureau noted it was costly and unnecessary to fire employees just to bring on new ones when the existing staff could have simply been reassigned.

The State Department is aligning its workforce with foreign policy priorities by conducting this RIF action. The department will communicate changes in job duties, reporting structures, and potential physical moves in the coming days and weeks, with all changes to be completed by Aug. 4. The department has no plans to conduct further reductions in force.