Arizona: Sheri Van Horsen

Hundreds of state workers are facing unpaid furloughs and layoffs – potentially within a week – as agencies struggle to implement budget cuts approved last week, officials say.

PDF: Q&A about state layoff procedures (courtesy Arizona Department of Administration)

State agency officials were briefed Tuesday on procedures they will need to follow to implement reduction-in-force policies, as layoffs of state workers are called, said Alan Ecker, spokesman for the Arizona Department of Administration (DOA). Decisions on layoffs are up to individual agency heads, he said.

Agency directors will be notified shortly to report their plans to cut personnel costs to DOA, he said. But since that order has yet to go out, there are not yet any estimates as to how many state workers could lose their jobs, he said.