Concerns mount over FEMA staff reductions

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s workforce continues to face uncertainty amid abrupt cuts to disaster response staff and planning emails that show FEMA has been contemplating deeper reductions.

Late last month, FEMA sent non-renewal notices to 50 Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery Employees (CORE) whose terms ended between Jan. 1 and Jan. 4. CORE employees are hired for two-to-four year terms, but they are often renewed to continue ongoing disaster work. CORE staff make up the majority of FEMA’s workforce, constituting 39% as of 2022. 

FEMA did not respond to a request for comment. In other stories on the CORE cuts, a FEMA spokesman has characterized them as “a routine staff adjustment of 50 staff out of 8,000.”

Read more at Federal News Network