The
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is facing a significant reduction in
its workforce as approximately 500 employees have agreed to accept $50,000
buyout offers, according to sources familiar with the matter. The departures
represent roughly 10% of the agency’s 5,000-strong staff.

SEC Braces for Major Staff
Reduction as Hundreds Accept Buyout Offers

The exodus
is expected to significantly impact several critical areas within the agency.
The Division of Enforcement, Office of Examinations, and Office of the General
Counsel will experience some of the most substantial losses, according to
individuals with direct knowledge who requested anonymity because the
information isn’t public.

The number of departures could increase
further, as employees have until last Friday to accept the
$50,000 incentive package. Under the voluntary separation agreement,
eligible employees must have been on the SEC’s payroll before January 24 and
agree to leave through resignation, transfer, or immediate retirement. Those
who return to the agency within five years must repay the full incentive
amount.

Broader Cost-Cutting
Measures

The staff
reductions come amid a larger cost-cutting initiative within the SEC. The
agency plans to terminate leases for its Los Angeles and Philadelphia offices,
while the General Services Administration has explored ending the Chicago
office’s lease despite potential financial penalties.

Regional
offices handle significant portions of the SEC’s examination and enforcement
activities. The agency has also eliminated senior positions at regional
offices, although incumbents aren’t being forced out.

Several
legal experts have criticized these cuts as contradictory to effective
government operation. In a blog post last week, a group of Columbia Law School
professors including John Coates and John Coffee Jr. wrote:

“The
Trump administration may claim that all agencies should be reduced in size by a
roughly similar margin, in effect sharing proportionate reductions. But this
ignores one extraordinary fact about the SEC: It consistently has generated
more in fees than in operating expenses.”

Trump and Musk Cut Costs

The staff
reductions align with President
Trump and Elon Musk’s broader efforts to downsize the federal workforce,
which they have characterized as bloated and inefficient. The White House
required agencies to submit plans for a second wave of mass layoffs by March
13.

SEC
Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda, a Republican, initiated these workforce
reduction measures before the arrival of Trump’s nominee for replacement, Paul
Atkins, who is scheduled to testify before Congress next week.

According
to Bloomberg and Reuters, an SEC spokesperson declined to comment on the
departures.