Terner Center for Housing Innovation, UC Berkeley, Commentary and Analysis, Ben Metcalf, March 13, 2025
Staffing reductions at this scale threaten to cripple HUD’s ability to perform basic functions, and put millions of people at risk who rely on federally funded housing assistance. Moreover, they could stall billions of dollars in pending private investment—both the construction of new market-rate and affordable housing, as well as essential renovation and rebuilding of existing housing.
HUD can be more efficient and there are plausible ways to reduce headcount but not like this. This commentary previews consequences of widespread layoffs, while offering an alternative approach that draws on my own experience leading HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing Programs through a reorganization in the 2010s. This reorganization increased the Office’s productivity across a range of metrics while still boosting overall morale and effectuating a reduction in overall headcount.