Morale plummets at the CDC as staff fear job losses

Staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are on edge this week, as rumors of job cuts circulate. Employees are bracing for a significant reduction in the work force that appears to be targeting those with the fewest worker protections.

Agency staff were notified in emails that all the centers, institutes and offices received a list of their staff members who are in probationary or temporary status, according to a senior CDC official who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on this topic for the agency.

Senior leaders were asked to designate who on the list were mission critical and not mission critical, the source who has direct knowledge of the actions told NPR.

Those considered temporary or probationary employees would include new supervisors, fellows and others with Title 42 appointments hired for being highly skilled. This represents a broad range of employees — from recent hires who represent the pipeline of new talent to senior scientists with many years of experience.

Losing even half of these workers would be “devastating” for the agency’s current disease outbreak responses, which includes H5N1 bird flu, measles and mpox, the source said.

The action has sent chills throughout those at the agency who’ve watched the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle USAID and its broader push to downsize the federal workforce.

It’s the latest in a series of actions taken by the Trump Administration in the name of efficiency and ideological alignment, including a freeze on external communications and a purge of the CDC’s website and datasets to comply with Trump’s executive orders on gender and diversity, equity and inclusion.

The data purge initiated late last week has left some scientists in the agency relying on archives of CDC data preserved by external groups, the CDC source confirmed.

All of this has made the agency less effective at monitoring for disease risks and conveying potential dangers, and would be exacerbated by the “imminent, probable loss of valuable staff,” the person said, “Americans are already at increased risk compared to just a few weeks ago.”

Staff who’ve experienced other administration changes at CDC say the transition has been unlike anything they’ve experienced before, with “fewer meetings, fewer requests for information,” and little attempt to understand how things work, says a former CDC employee with experience through several administrations who resigned in the last few weeks.

Another senior CDC official who recently resigned was dismayed at the prospect of mass layoffs, given the legal protections that exist for agency employees, even staff who are in their probationary period.

“It is extremely difficult and traumatizing for federal staff to see reporting on this as if it is doable and legal,” the former employee who requested anonymity told NPR.

“The CDC staff I know and have worked with for more than 25 years are dedicated public servants and don’t deserve to be mistreated in this way.”

Edited by Jane Greenhalgh