Hundreds of workers at the NC Department of Transportation are being offered an employee buy-out as part of a massive reorganization.

Local North Carolina news affiliate WTVD is reporting that hundreds of workers at the NC Department of Transportation are being offered an employee buy-out as part of a massive reorganization.

Workers got an email in late May explaining the Reorganization Through Reduction plan and describing it in glowing terms, as a "voluntary separation" program designed to "empower employees." The email goes on to say if there aren't enough volunteers, there may be cuts anyway.

The email directs workers to a report which outlines the plan in more detail. It says the Department's goal is to cut total staff by 17%. Of that, 256 are filled positions in the Div. of Highways, Planning and Programming, and Technical Services.

The report also goes into detail about which units will see the most losses and a timetable for the overall reorganization. Among the biggest expected cuts: the Materials and Tests Unit (39 employees) and the Structures Management Unit (36 employees). You can find out exactly which units can expect cuts here.

The DOT report also sets forth how the reorganization will work and how the department will get the same amount of work done with that many fewer people. Neither the report nor the email to employees mentions the cost of the buy-out program to either the Department or taxpayers.

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