The FDA plans to hire contractors to take over responsibilities previously handled by some of its employees affected by recent layoffs at HHS, CBS News reported April 11.
The contractors are expected to assume most duties of more than 50 employees who managed travel logistics and spending for FDA inspectors, two FDA officials told CBS. FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, MD, approved the plan, according to an internal email obtained by the outlet.
HHS began issuing dismissal notices on April 1 as part of a broader restructuring that includes laying off 10,000 full-time employees, including 3,500 FDA workers.
“Recent adjustments in staff numbers have created a heightened need for the FDA to be nimble, efficient and respond creatively, in order to continue and maintain FDA’s regulatory inspection presence and the gold standard of excellence,” FDA officials wrote in emails obtained by CBS.
Laid-off employees supporting the FDA’s Office of Inspections and Investigations were informed in their dismissal notices that their work was “unnecessary or virtually identical to duties being performed elsewhere in the agency.”
The officials said certain logistics processes — such as securing visas for inspectors to enter foreign countries — had been stalled since the layoffs. The contractors are expected to “address the duties that have been performed” by the laid-off employees.
