ATLANTA — A union representing CDC workers in Atlanta has released new data showing a significant decline in staffing at the agency.
According to union officials, the CDC’s active civil service workforce fell from 12,705 employees in March 2025 to an estimated 8,895 by May 2026, a 30% decline.
The union says more than 500 employees have been separated from their positions and more than 200 remain on paid administrative leave. Its data shows 843 workers were affected by reductions in force, including 572 who were separated and 271 who remain on paid administrative leave.
The American Federation of Government Employees Local 2883 launched a new website that breaks down the staffing changes by CDC centers, divisions and branches, officials said.
According to union officials, at least 18 of 135 tracked divisions and 79 of 556 tracked branches have lost all of their staff.
Union President Yolanda Jacobs said CDC employees have faced 18 months of layoffs and reductions in force.
“We have lost nearly a third of our dedicated civil service workers at CDC in just a little over a year,” Jacobs said. “This is not normal. What we are witnessing is the dismantling of public health infrastructure our country relies on. CDC workers have endured eighteen months of chaos and confusion, from detrimental layoffs and RIFs, to being left in a constant state of panic about job security. This turmoil cannot continue. Our workers, who have dedicated their lives to serving the American people, deserve better. Our country deserves an agency that is fully prepared to protect the public’s health within and outside its own doors. Protecting our nation’s public health workers also protects our nation’s public health.”
According to union officials, the CDC’s 30% attrition rate was higher than the 19.4% attrition rate across the federal government from March 2025 through May 2026.
The union says the website will allow the public to track staffing changes within the agency and see how individual parts of the CDC have been affected.
WSB Radio’s Mary Ryan Howarth contributed to this story.
