‘It’s a bloodbath’: Massive wave of job cuts began at US health agencies

A massive wave of job cuts began at US health agencies early Tuesday, with some employees receiving early morning emails that their jobs were eliminated and some unable to access the building when they arrived at work.

A massive wave of job cuts began at US health agencies early Tuesday, with some employees receiving early morning emails that their jobs were eliminated and some unable to access the building when they arrived at work. It was not immediately clear how many employees had received notice Tuesday morning. CNN has reached out the US Department of Health and Human Services for comment. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said last week that 10,000 full-time employees would be cut on top of thousands who had already left and probationary employees currently on leave. He said the changes would make fighting chronic disease the priority and reduce “bureaucratic sprawl.” Kennedy promised the department would do more with less. On Tuesday, job cuts were sweeping across offices at multiple agencies, hitting leadership, longtime staffers, scientists and administrators. “It’s a bloodbath,” one US Food and Drug Administration employee said. Cuts at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention slashed the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, the Office of Smoking and Health, Violence Prevention division and HIV offices, among others.