SBA to Lay Off 2700 Employees.

SBA to Reduce Staff by 2700 Employees

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced it will lay off approximately 2700 employees, which accounts for about 43% of its workforce, as part of the agency's restructuring.

The SBA, which was established in 1953 to provide resources to small businesses and assist in lending to small businesses and recovery from adverse events, stated in a release that reducing its staff from 6500 employees is part of efforts to return staffing levels to pre-pandemic levels, after the agency played a crucial role in assisting small businesses during the pandemic.

Kelly Loeffler, who heads the SBA, stated on Friday that the agency is focused on 'halting the expanded social policies of the previous Administration, eliminating non-essential roles, and returning to staffing levels pre-pandemic.'

'By eliminating unjust roles and consolidating functions, we will return to the staffing levels of the previous Trump Administration,' Loeffler said.

The SBA stated that its loan guarantee and disaster assistance programs, as well as its operations in local offices and among service members, will remain unchanged. The staff reduction will be achieved through voluntary layoffs, the completion of COVID-era appointments, and a few dismissals.

'Today the SBA announced a 43% staff reduction, bringing the agency back to its staffing levels pre-pandemic,' Loeffler wrote on Friday on X. 'We are ending wasteful spending, underfunding, and the partisan behavior of the Biden Administration. We, like the small businesses we serve, will do more with less!'

This occurs in the context of the Trump Administration's intent to reduce the size of the federal workforce led by Elon Musk's Office of Government Efficiency (DODGE).

President Donald Trump separately announced on Friday that the SBA will take on more responsibilities, stating that the agency will handle student loans as part of a plan to redistribute responsibilities from the Department of Education, which the president plans to close.

'The SBA is ready to work with Congress and the Administration to restore accountability to America's student loan program,' Loeffler responded on X.

Reuters reported this.