The Washington Metropolitian Area Transit Authority’s new general manager fired 20 managers Friday as part of his plan to improve safety and efficiency on the 40-year-old Metrorail system.
Paul Wiedefeld sent an internal memo about the terminations Friday afternoon, including seven senior managers, according to NBC Washington:
“Consistent with the Customer Accountability Report (CARe), I began management restructuring by reducing my direct reports from 21 to 9, and departments are currently being realigned under the new structure. This includes streamlining management to improve effectiveness and accountability. As part of this restructuring, 20 managers are being released from WMATA, including seven senior managers. More than one-third are from the rail side of the house. Others are in administrative areas, including procurement, for example. I hope you will join me in respecting the privacy of these individuals, and note that I will not be commenting about individual employees. CARe also calls for the elimination of redundant positions, and that review is underway.”
Two weeks ago, Wiedefeld met with the transit agency’s 650 managers and instructed them to put passengers’ safety first. Metro will start its 10-month SafeTrack rail improvement project in early June, meant to fix mechanical issues on 15 sections of track.
NBC Washington reported additional employees are likely to be let go in the coming weeks.
