WASHINGTON, DC, United States (AFP) — More than 1,300 State Department employees were fired Friday in a downsizing ordered by President Donald Trump and touted as cutting bloated Government — but which critics predict will hamstring US influence around the world.

U.S. diplomats in Washington are bracing for cuts to the State Department workforce, with dismissal notices expected to hit inboxes as soon as Friday, according to three State Department officials with knowledge of the plans.

U.S. diplomats in Washington are bracing for cuts to the State Department workforce, with dismissal notices expected to hit inboxes as soon as Friday, according to three State Department officials with knowledge of the plans.

The department notified employees Thursday that it was about to begin layoffs as part of a consolidation plan that department officials say will reduce bureaucratic bloat.

Indeed says approximately 1,300 employees will be impacted across the company in the layoff. Per a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice filed by the company in Washington state, 92 of those employees are based in Seattle.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday fired at least nine more Justice Department employees who worked for Special Counsel Jack Smith to investigate President Donald Trump's retention of classified records and efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to five people familiar with the matter.

Microsoft is laying off around 9,000 more employees after earmarking thousands of H-1B positions in the months leading up to the mass layoffs, labor data shows.

Agency says it is on pace to reduce its total staff by nearly 30,000 employees by the end of this fiscal year through retirements, attrition and deferred resignations after previously saying it would need to cull 83,