WASHINGTON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Several employees were

fired from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Monday

evening, as the Trump administration continued its broader

efforts to shrink the federal workforce.

Staff at the FDIC, which monitors banks nationwide and

backstops bank deposits via its insurance fund, were notified

Tuesday morning of the firings. In an email seen by Reuters,

staff were told the agency had "separated certain probationary

employees."

Exactly how many employees were fired was unclear, but a

website maintained by the Department of Government Efficiency

(DOGE) says there were over 500 employees at the agency who had

been there for less than one year.

Typically, probationary employees in the federal government

have been there for one or two years, and enjoy fewer

protections than longer-term workers.

A spokesperson for the FDIC declined to comment. Bloomberg

Law first reported the firings.

The FDIC firings mark the latest in a sweeping effort across

the federal government, as thousands of new hires have been

fired by the Trump administration as part of an effort to

radically cut back U.S. bureaucracy.

The cuts at the roughly 6,000-person agency come despite

warnings the watchdog is already facing staffing challenges. An

agency review of the 2023 failure of Signature Bank ( SBNY ), one of

several bank failures that spring, found staff devoted to

monitoring the bank experienced "frequent vacancies and

continuous turnover" leading up to its collapse.

Relatedly, the FDIC's inspector general warned in a 2024

report that 36% of the agency's workforce would be eligible for

retirement in 2027, higher than average rates across the

government.