02:39 PM EDT, 05/16/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The Federal Reserve intends to reduce its staffing by around 10% over the next two years in an effort to bring staffing in line with its needs, Bloomberg and other outlets reported Friday, citing a memo from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.

The cuts would be mostly through early retirement for those due to depart by the end of 2027 and would reduce headcount by more than 2,000 workers, the reports said.

The Fed is self-funded through earnings on its securities holding and other means, so, unlike other government agencies, it is not funded by Congressional mandate. Even without outside funding, the Fed has turned over billions of dollars in profits to the US Treasury for various years until recently when it booked operating losses in 2023 and 2024 amid a rise interest rates and had to give up remittances to the Treasury, Bloomberg said.

Powell has suggested that staffing levels at the Fed are not unnecessarily high but said in his memo that the reductions are part of being "a careful and responsible steward of public resources," according to Bloomberg.