State Department is firing more than 1,300 staff on Friday

The State Department has begun firing more than 1,300 people as part of a dramatic overhaul of the agency, according to a State Department official.

The firings will affect 1,107 civil service and 246 foreign service officers, an internal notice seen by CNN said. It comes as the State Department implements a drastic reorganization as part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to shrink the federal government.

Hundreds of offices and bureaus are being eliminated or altered as a result of the changes being implemented on Friday.

Employees will receive layoff notices via email, the notice said. The firings are happening as Secretary of State Marco Rubio is out of Washington, DC, on a flight back from an overseas trip to Malaysia.

“Nearly 3,000 members of the workforce will depart as part of the reorganization,” the notice said. That number includes people who are being fired as well as those leaving voluntarily.