DULUTH, Ga. — Gov.-elect Nathan Deal said Wednesday the state will have to lay off workers to shrink its 104,000-person work force as it copes with an ongoing state budget deficit.
“We’re going to have downsize,” Deal told a luncheon sponsored by Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. “And that’s tough.”
Asked by The Associated Press after the speech whether layoffs would be needed, Deal said yes.
“I think you will see a downsizing starting with the executive branch agencies,” Deal said.
A Deal spokesman, however, said afterward that layoffs could be just one of several options to pare down the workforce and insisted no decisions have been made.