The N.C. Department of Transportation will eliminate 400 positions by June 30, according to a memo sent Monday to the agency's employees by N.C. DOT secretary Gene Conti.
According to the memo, the staff reductions are part of spending cuts required of all departments in state government during the current budget cycle.
"We were not immune although we were given time to decide how to make the necessary workforce reductions," Conti's memo said. "The public demands smaller government, and the financial resources to continue to operate at our previous levels just do not exist any longer."
On its website, the DOT says it's one of the largest state government agencies and has more than 14,000 employees. In addition to handling state roads, the DOT also runs a ferry service on the coast and is in charge of the state's passenger rail system.
Pat Ivey, DOT division engineer for Division 9, which includes Forsyth County, said he didn't know if any of the cuts would come from this division.
Division 9 has 471 positions, Ivey said. As of Monday afternoon, he said he was not aware of anyone in the local office who has been contacted about their job being eliminated. "This is just coming out," he said.
Ivey said he expects most of the cuts will likely come from the DOT's headquarters in Raleigh, as opposed to the individual divisions.
He also said it's unlikely that cuts here, if there were any, would cause delays in the division's projects. "We'd still be able to get the projects out the door just as we had planned."
Conti's memo said that the cuts will take place during the coming months according to a reduction-in-force plan. He also said that staff members will be notified as soon as it's certain their jobs will be eliminated.
"While we cannot avoid these difficult choices, I commit to all of you that we will do everything we can to manage this process with the goal of assisting every employee who needs it," Conti said in the memo.
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