CDC staffing drops 30% as layoffs, retirements and resignations reshape agency
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is operating with about 30% fewer employees than it had last spring, according to a new union-backed analysis that offers one of the clearest pictures yet of the agency's workforce cuts.
The analysis estimates that the CDC had 12,705 civil service employees in March 2025. By May 2026, 3,539 had left the agency and another 271 remained on paid administrative leave without being allowed to perform their regular duties.
That amounts to an estimated loss of 3,810 working employees, or 30% of the agency's previous workforce. The cuts left the CDC with about 8,895 active employees, according to the analysis.
The figures are estimates, not an official CDC employee count. The analysis was conducted by the Public Data Observatory and confirmed by American Federation of Government Employees Local 2883, which represents CDC workers in Atlanta and Miami.
Researchers compared union staffing data from March 2025 with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services employee directory from May 2026. The directory allows users to search for HHS employees by name, title, organization or agency.
The estimate includes full-time civil service employees and some fellows, but it does not include contractors or members of the U.S. Public Health Service.
The largest groups of employees who left included 857 who retired voluntarily, 837 who quit and 642 whose appointments expired or ended for other reasons. Another 572 employees were laid off, while 271 employees affected by layoffs remained on administrative leave because of a court order.
The analysis found that the CDC's 30% effective workforce decline was higher than the 19.4% decline across the federal government during the same period. Before 2025, the federal government's average annual employee turnover rate was about 6%, according to the data.
The Department of Health and Human Services said the CDC's new leadership is reviewing the agency's structure and operations.
"Dr. Schwartz and CDC's new leadership are evaluating the agency's structure and operations to ensure CDC can effectively advance the priorities of President Trump and Secretary Kennedy and fulfill its core public health mission," HHS press secretary Emily Hilliard said in a statement obtained by CBS News Atlanta. "CDC continues to protect the health and safety of the American people and communicate clearly about the importance of vaccination."
The new data comes after more than a year of layoffs, retirements and resignations at the Atlanta-based public health agency. The union says staffing cuts have continued since the May 2026 data was collected.
