The state department is planning to lay off hundreds of US-based staff in the coming weeks as part of a major reorganisation, in a move career diplomats say will harm America’s foreign policy interests.
AFSA, the foreign service labour union, said it was “firmly and unequivocally opposed” to the proposed plans. It said they were coming as the state department’s workforce was “already stretched thin and under-resourced for the effective conduct of American diplomacy”.
The union’s concerns were expressed in a message to its members seen by the Financial Times. People familiar with the plans say 1,600 US-based foreign service and civil service staff could lose their jobs in the shake-up.