A Compassionate Guide for 10/10 RIF'ed CDC Employees
AFGE 2883 on CDC Staffing Cut through Reductions in Force
UPDATE: JUNE 11, 2025
We are aware that on June 11, 2025, HHS began issuing notices to a minority of the staff impacted by the April 1 reductions-in-force. These notices alert staff that their RIF is rescinded. In our early assessment, it appears that critical functions are still lost.
We urge HHS to reverse all the notices issued to CDC staff on April 1, 2025 and return the public health workforce to their positions.
On April 1, 2025, RIF notices were issued to civil servants at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Since then, leadership at HHS has repeatedly denied claims that these personnel cuts would impact the front-line, public health work that is the backbone of the CDC mission. AFGE 2883 members, as CDC staff, have experienced first-hand the devastating impact of these personnel actions.
These data came directly from AFGE 2883 members and from our understanding of the workforce at CDC.
These cuts were scientific, not administrative and not “fraud, waste, and abuse”.
AFGE 2883 recognizes that the work of CDC relies on all members of its workforce, and not only scientific staff. However, leadership at HHS has repeatedly claimed that “the cuts we have made to date are administrative cuts…we have not fired any working scientists”. We find that approximately 1,586 civil servants affected by the RIF were scientists, medical professionals, veterinary professionals, engineers, and other STEM leaders. These roles are essential to the CDC's core public health mission and account for over 59% of the cuts to the CDC workforce, impacting the agency's research and response capacity.
Additional details on these cuts, including details within specific job series, are given below.
These cuts devastated the groups working on topics “prioritized” for the Administration for a Healthy America.
We have repeatedly heard from HHS leadership that they are “streamlining” and “prioritizing” important topics. However, staff in each of these “priority” units have simply been eliminated, without any ability to transfer programs or ensure that work continues. These cuts, which correspond to key offices in the CDC organizational chart, include:
Worker health and safety
Nearly the entire workforce was eliminated. These cuts were particularly devastating to CDC staff represented by our partner locals.
Maternal and child health
Core programs were destroyed.
Environmental health
Programs reduced by more than half.
Smoking and tobacco control
No civil servants remain to conduct this work.
Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) response
Key laboratorians responsible for tracking and responding to STI outbreaks was completely eliminated.
About these data
The HHS Reduction-in-Force actions took place at the level of branches, resulting in extensive workforce reductions within those units. This report summarizes the impact of these cuts, which specifically reduced the number of civil servants in each unit to zero. The numbers that AFGE 2883 has estimated may not be exact, as cuts were summarized without official reports from HHS. There have been extensive additional losses of personnel through other mechanisms at CDC, including:
The impacts of these additional losses are not yet fully described.
Additional Details by Occupational Series
| Group | Number RIF'ed | % of Cut |
|---|---|---|
| Other | 1,088 | 41% |
| Health Scientists (Epidemiologists) | 605 | 23% |
| Public health program specialist | 347 | 13% |
| Biologists | 93 | 3% |
| General engineering | 83 | 3% |
| Social science | 55 | 2% |
| Medical officers and Physicians | 47 | 2% |
| Mathematical Statistics | 38 | 1% |
| General physical science | 31 | 1% |
| Engineering Technical | 30 | 1% |
| Statistics | 29 | 1% |
| Economist | 26 | <1% |
| Industrial hygiene | 26 | <1% |
| Mechanical engineering | 21 | <1% |
| Computer science | 18 | <1% |
| Mining engineering | 17 | <1% |
| Chemistry | 13 | <1% |
| Data Science Series | 10 | <1% |
| Psychology | 8 | <1% |
| Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering | 6 | <1% |
| Dental officer | 6 | <1% |
| Electronics Technical | 6 | <1% |
| Operations research | 6 | <1% |
| Physical science technician | 6 | <1% |
| Biological science technician | 4 | <1% |
| Computer engineering | 4 | <1% |
| Geology | 4 | <1% |
| Health aid and technician | 4 | <1% |
| Industrial engineering | 4 | <1% |
| Nurse | 4 | <1% |
| Health physics | 3 | <1% |
| Microbiology | 3 | <1% |
| Safety engineering | 3 | <1% |
| Toxicology | 3 | <1% |
| Chemical engineering | 2 | <1% |
| Electrical engineering | 2 | <1% |
| Electronics engineering | 2 | <1% |
| Environmental engineering | 2 | <1% |
| Physics | 2 | <1% |
| Speech pathology and audiology | 2 | <1% |
| Diagnostic radiologic technologist | 1 | <1% |
| Engineering and architecture student trainee | 1 | <1% |
| Geography | 1 | <1% |
| Materials engineering | 1 | <1% |
| Medical instrument technician | 1 | <1% |
| Medical technologist | 1 | <1% |
| Pharmacology | 1 | <1% |
| Physiology | 1 | <1% |
| Sociology | 1 | <1% |
| Statistical Assistant | 1 | <1% |
| Veterinary medical science | 1 | <1% |
| Animal health technician | 0 | <1% |
| Architecture | 0 | <1% |
| Ecology | 0 | <1% |
| Entomology | 0 | <1% |
| Genetics | 0 | <1% |
| Health insurance administration | 0 | <1% |
| Intelligence | 0 | <1% |
| Medical records technician | 0 | <1% |
| Pharmacist | 0 | <1% |
| Social science aid and technician | 0 | <1% |
Need More Resources?
Visit our Resource Hub for additional guides, forms, and support materials.
Back to Resource Hub