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CDC Layoffs: Furloughed HR Workers Were Recalled to Process Notices, Including Their Own

During the October 2025 shutdown, CDC HR workers were reportedly recalled from furlough to process RIF notices that included their own. About 1,300 notices were estimated, and about 700 were later rescinded.
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During the October 2025 federal shutdown, CDC human-resources employees who had been furloughed were temporarily recalled to process reduction-in-force notices—including notices for themselves, according to AFGE Local 2883 president Yolanda Jacobs, as reported by Ars Technica on October 15, 2025. The episode involved about 1,300 notices and about 700 later reversals, according to union estimates reported by Ars and the Associated Press; those figures describe notices, not a final audited count of completed separations.

What happened at the CDC during the October 2025 shutdown?

As the federal shutdown began, CDC human-resources staff were furloughed. Jacobs said some were then temporarily brought back to process termination letters, including their own. An unnamed terminated employee separately told Ars Technica that more than 90% of the HR staff was gone; that was the employee’s account, not an agency-published headcount.

The union estimated that more than 1,300 CDC employees received reduction-in-force (RIF) notices on Friday, October 10, 2025. About 700 notices were later rescinded, starting the following day. The Associated Press reported the same approximate totals. The figures are estimates attributed to AFGE Local 2883, not an audited final tally. Ars Technica; Associated Press, October 13, 2025.

A notice was not the same as an immediate separation. Ars reported that the notices set a December 8 effective termination date and included 60 days of administrative leave. At the time of that October report, about 1,300 employees remained on paid administrative leave. These are reported conditions in October 2025, not a statement of anyone’s current employment status.

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Why were CDC layoff notices rescinded?

The available reports do not establish a definitive cause. The administration described the reversals as a coding error, while an unnamed federal health official quoted by the AP attributed the incorrect notices to a system glitch. Some workers disputed that explanation in the Ars report. The reporting does not resolve whether the error was technical or establish intent.

Was it legal to issue the RIF notices during a shutdown?

The administration reportedly said the RIF was a consequence of the shutdown. The union, employment lawyers, and some senior government officials argued that a shutdown was not a lawful basis for a reduction in force and raised concerns about federal rules and shutdown spending restrictions. Those were reported arguments; the cited coverage does not establish a final legal ruling that the action was unlawful.

What did the cuts mean for CDC work?

Staff described cuts affecting chronic disease, global health, the National Center for Health Statistics, library services, suicide prevention, communications, and policy work. This is a reported account of areas affected at the time, not a complete or independently audited list of closures.

Former CDC employee Abigail Tighe, then with the National Public Health Coalition, said: “We are losing the people with all the knowledge to prevent childhood drownings, child abuse, and suicide.” An unnamed former CDC employee told Ars: “These are just hardworking Americans who just want to do their job, who just want to help people, who want to make sure the correct information is out there [and] that we are preventing things from happening.” The latter speaker’s account was anonymous.

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Former CDC principal deputy director Dr. Anne Schuchat told the AP: “Usually you think it’s nature that’s going to be giving you a hard time, the viruses, not the government.”

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What later reporting says about CDC staffing

In an August 19, 2026 report, the Associated Press said more than 3,000 CDC employees had been lost since the start of the Trump administration, mostly through layoffs and resignations. That is a later, separately dated measure and should not be combined with the union’s October 2025 estimates as if the counts used identical methods. The AP also reported that CDC director Erica Schwartz acknowledged burnout and congressionally funded programs without enough staff. The report provides later context for staffing concerns, but does not establish the current status of each team or the 2025 notices. Associated Press, August 19, 2026.

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