On Friday evening, the FDA began the process of recalling several employees who had been recently laid off, notifying them to return to their positions following mass terminations that occurred just a week prior.

These employees, classified as probationary, received calls from the FDA’s human resources team on Friday night and Saturday morning. Sources familiar with the situation, who wished to remain anonymous, reported that the agency assured these workers they would regain access to computer systems and networks by Monday.

Among those contacted were former staff from the Center for Devices and Radiological Health, which oversees medical devices and digital health technologies. This particular division faced significant layoffs, drawing immediate criticism from the medical device industry.

The exact number of layoffs being rescinded remains uncertain, but some FDA personnel are expected to report back to the office starting Monday. As of now, neither the FDA nor the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has provided comments on the situation.

This recent series of callbacks follows a wave of layoffs affecting thousands of federal employees due to President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at reducing the size of the federal workforce.

Subsequent layoffs began after the order, impacting various health organizations, including the CDC, NIH, and CMS, among others within the Department of Health and Human Services.

The FDA’s initial termination notices were directed at workers currently in their probationary phase. An internal email from acting chief human capital officer Jeffery Anoka, which was acquired by Bloomberg Law, stated that these employees were deemed “not fit for continued employment” due to an “incompatibility with the Agency’s current needs” regarding their skills and competencies.

Affected employees were informed they would be placed on administrative leave with four weeks’ pay.

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