Nearly 2 million federal civil servants in the US administration will be laid off. As a result, the Trump administration said it is offering financial incentives to employees who are expected to be laid off as part of plans to drastically shrink the size of the US government.
The "deferred leave program" will allow federal employees to remain on the payroll until September 30, but without having to work in person and possibly having their duties reduced or eliminated, according to an email sent to federal employees seen by Reuters.
The email gives federal employees until February 6 to decide whether to take part in the scheme. It instructed interested employees to reply to the email from a government account and write the word "resign". The Trump administration expects up to 10% of employees to take up the offer, or about 200,000 of the more than two million workers the federal government employs, according to the BBC's US partner. The offer covers civilian employees, except those in immigration and national security-related positions and people working for the US Postal Service.
The unprecedented move comes as Republican President Donald Trump has used his early days in office to shrink, purge and remake the US federal government to suit his political priorities.
There are about 2.3 million U.S. civilian employees. Security-related agencies make up the bulk of the federal workforce, but hundreds of thousands of people work across the country in jobs overseeing veterans' health care, inspecting agriculture and paying government bills, among other jobs.
While the military and some agencies are likely to increase their staff numbers, most agencies are likely to downsize through restructuring and layoffs, the email said, warning that federal employees cannot be guaranteed their jobs.
Democratic Senator Tim Kaine called the proposal a "fake offer," saying Trump had no authority to offer it and that workers might not receive the promised payments. It was unclear how many workers would accept the offer and what impact it would have on government costs or service levels. NBC News cited a senior administration official who estimated that 5% to 10% of the federal workforce could be cut, leading to $100 billion in savings, a figure that Reuters could not verify. (A2 Televizion)
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