NEW YORK – In a significant move, the Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced a 43% reduction in its workforce, which equates to approximately 2,700 jobs, as part of a strategic reorganization.
Established in 1953, the SBA’s primary role has been to provide essential resources to small businesses while administering both small business and disaster recovery loans. During the pandemic, the agency played a vital part in distributing financial assistance to small enterprises.
Now, under the leadership of its new head, Kelly Loeffler, the SBA intends to realign with pre-pandemic staffing levels and phase out certain initiatives introduced during the Biden administration.
In a statement released on Friday, Loeffler announced, “By eliminating non-mission-critical positions and consolidating functions, we will revert to the staffing levels of the last Trump Administration.”
However, the SBA assured that its core operations, such as loan guarantee and disaster assistance programs, field activities, and veteran operations, will remain unaffected by these changes. The workforce reduction will come from a mix of voluntary resignations, the cessation of COVID-era and other term appointments, and some involuntary job terminations.
This downsizing at the SBA forms part of a broader initiative championed by the Trump Administration aimed at reducing the federal workforce. This campaign is being spearheaded by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
In an additional announcement on Friday, it was revealed that the administration plans to assign the handling of student loans to the SBA, as part of a strategy to redistribute certain responsibilities of the Education Department across various federal agencies. Meanwhile, the SBA has yet to comment further on these developments.
