The head of the Peace Corps alumni group said Monday that they had been informed that the institution was planning to reduce the number of full-time staff supporting volunteers overseas.
Dan Baker, president and CEO of the National Peace Corps Association, said he heard the news on the same day as Sheryl Fay, deputy vice-Chief Executive of the Peace Corps. He said the cuts were said to be planned at the request of the so-called government-efficient Elon Musk's cost-cutting team, which has dismantled the US International Development Agency and other foreign AID agencies.
The Peace Corps confirmed in a statement that the mask team evaluates its operations and is “working to identify the additional efficiency of our staffing structure.”
“The agency continues to operate, recruit, deploy and train volunteers, continuing to support health, safety, security and effective services,” the Peace Corps said.
Baker said the Peace Corps was told not to close foreign offices or reduce the number of volunteers they take a year. The institutions run independently within the administrative division were established under President John F. Kennedy. There are approximately 3,000 volunteers serving in one of 60 developing countries for two years.
“The Peace Corps has received guidance that they have no intention of cutting volunteers or the country, but the impact of staffing will be extremely stressful for their businesses,” Baker said in the conversation.
The Peace Corps has around 970 full-time American employees recruiting new volunteers and overseeing training, healthcare and security. Of these employees, approximately 790 people work in the United States.
Baker said he wasn't told how many people in the work the Peace Corps intended to cut.
To begin cutting, Baker said the agency on Monday offered employees the opportunity to pay by the end of this year to steal “early retirement.” The agency confirmed in a statement that the staff had to apply for an administration's “deferred resignation” offer until May 6th.
