Federal Communications Commission Chairman Reed Hundt last week announced plans to reduce the agency’s work force by 10 percent as well as close certain field offices around the country.
Hundt’s recommendations, which now go before the five-member agency, come as House Republicans prepare to downsize the FCC.
About 50 employees from field offices will be laid off next year, the first time the FCC has taken such action.
The remainder of personnel cuts come as the result of early retirement and buyout options. The FCC is authorized for 2,271 employees; the changes are intended to bring that number down to 2,050.
However, none of the steps outlined by Hundt address some GOP members’ desire to eliminate the Competition Division in the General Counsel’s office or the Equal Employment Opportunity Branch of the Mass Media Bureau.
Jack Fields, chairman of the House telecommunications subcommittee, intends to take up FCC reform this fall. Telecommunications reform legislation he helped craft will require the FCC to add scores of new workers to implement the historic bill.
“While any employee cutbacks are painful, I believe that we have devised a reasonable plan to reduce our operating force level, modernize our operations, minimize the impact on employees and ensure that the FCC can effectively and efficiently carry out our duties within the budget limit that Congress has set,” said Hundt.
Nine national frequency monitoring stations will be shut down. The FCC said that function will not be impaired because the central monitoring facility in Laurel, Md., will stay open.
Nine of 25 field offices will be shut down, but two technical staffers will be retained in each of the nine locations as resident agents.
No one will lose their job in the Washington, D.C., headquarters, but employees will be shuffled around. The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau will get more staff.
“With fewer people in the field it may be harder to resolve interference problems,” said Sharpe Smith, a spokesman for the Industrial Telecommunications Association. He added that private sector frequency coordinators may gain increased responsibilities as a consequence.
