SEC Offers $50K Incentive for Employees to Resign Amid Trump's Staff Cuts
1min read The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reportedly offering eligible employees a financial incentive of up to $50,000 to resign or retire from the agency. According to a Bloomberg report, the SEC sent an email on February 28 to all employees, describing the offer as a "voluntary separation incentive" or "voluntary early retirement program." The deadline to apply for the incentive is March 21, and eligible employees must have been on the agency's payroll before January 24. They must also voluntarily leave through resignation, transfer to another agency, or retire, and cannot return to the SEC within five years. If they do so, they must pay back the incentive in full.
The move comes as the Trump administration seeks to slash federal government staff under the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk. The department has reportedly removed more than 100,000 of the federal government's 2.3 million workers through a combination of layoffs and buyouts.
In early February, it was reported that the SEC was starting to scale back its 50-staff crypto enforcement unit. At the same time, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce outlined the agency's new approach to regulating the crypto markets, including evaluating the security status of crypto assets.
The U.S. labor market is in the spotlight this week with key reports on nonfarm employment data, initial jobless claims data, and the February Jobs Report due. These reports are considered important economic indicators, as the shift in the number of positions is strongly associated with the overall health of the economy.
Meanwhile, the SEC has dismissed legal action against a number of prominent crypto companies in recent weeks, including coinbase, Consensys, Robinhood, Gemini, Uniswap, and most recently, Kraken.
