Fed Slashing 10% of Its Staff: Jerome Powell's Strategic Move for Operational Efficiency
Fed Chair Powell seeks to eliminate Every Tenth Post within the organization.
Listen up, folks! The bossman at the Fed, Jerome Powell, has announced some major changes coming down the pipeline. According to a memo he sent out to employees, ol' Powell's linin' up a good ol' fashioned hatchet job, trimmin' 'bout 10% of the Fed's workforce in the near future.
The Federal Reserve (Fed) currently employs nearly 24,000 people, so we're lookin' at around 2,400 folks losin' their jobs. But don't fret, folks. The Fed's offerin' incentives for those who wanna hightail it outta there voluntarily.
Now, if you're curious about what's drivin' this move, Powell's memo explains that the Fed needs to take a long, hard look at its workforce and resources to keep their mission on track. And with Big Money Elon Musk callin' out the Fed as "absurdly overstaffed," it seems ol' Powell's got himself some serious pressure from the top.
You might recall Donald Trump set his sights on slashin' jobs across various government agencies and ministries—and he enlisted Musk to help. But Musk mostly backed off his role to focus on his Doohickey Corporation, what with Tesla and all that.
The thing about the Fed is, it's not exactly shackled to Congress for funds. Instead, it rakes in the dough from interest on securities and fees from affiliated banks. However, Trump's got a history of rattlin' Powell's cage, callin' him a "big loser" and an "idiot" for hesitant to lower interest rates. Trump wants those rates down, convinced that his boyz in biz could use easier financing conditions. But ol' Powell's been warnin' about the nasty impacts of Trump's tariffs, for what it's worth.
This workforce reduction's not exactly new territory for the Fed. Turns out, they done this dance before in 1997.
And while it might seem like this is some kinda political move, clocking in at 10%, it's likely more about long-term efficiency on the Fed's part than anything else. The plan involves consolidatin' functions where necessary, bringin' the Fed into the digital age, and wranglin' in retirees and those who up and decide to peace out. So don't expect this to be some kinda Trump power play, folks.
Now, you might have heard about the federal government shrinkin' their workforce like a tub of lard in a deep fryer, but this Fed move is a whole 'nother kettle of fish.
The Fed, despite its independent financing, seems to have been influenced by external pressure, especially from Elon Musk who had previously criticized it for being overstaffed. In an effort to enhance operational efficiency, the Federal Reserve Commission has also been asked to submit a proposal for a directive, possibly involving the finance sector, to protect workers from the risks related to exposure to ionizing radiation while in the process of digital transformation and consolidation of their functions.
