Funding cuts to youth jobs program leads to 120 layoffs in St. Pete

Nearly 120 people are being laid off from a jobs center in St. Petersburg, with the facility blaming the Trump administration’s decision to cut the program's funding.

The 119 jobs being eliminated are at the Pinellas County Job Corps Center at 500 22nd St. in the city. Exceed LLC, the company contracted to operate the center along with Eckerd Connects, announced the layoffs in a Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification notice sent to the state.

The company says in the letter that the entire facility will shut down, and all employees will lose their jobs by June 30.

“We were unable to provide more notice of this action because these circumstances were unexpected, and the instructions provided by the U.S. Department of Labor stop work order were immediate,” the letter states.

The Labor Department describes the closing of the contractor-operated Job Corps Centers nationally as a “temporary pause and will be carried out in accordance with available funding, the statutory framework established under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and congressional notification requirements.”

In its letter to the state, Exceed writes, “This closure is expected to be permanent.”

The Labor Department says in its statement the decision was made following “an internal review of the program’s outcome and structure” and that it aligned with President Donald Trump’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget proposal.

The department operates two other centers in the state, in Miami and Jacksonville, according to a map on its website. Neither facility had filed a federally mandated WARN notice as of Tuesday afternoon.

The program was, according to the Labor Department’s website, aimed at helping young people between 16 and 24 to find work. The centers provided both educational training and vocational training programs.

The Labor Department, in its statement, says the program has faced financial challenges under its current operating structure. In 2024 it ran at a $140 million deficit, “requiring the Biden administration to implement a pause in center operations to complete the program year.” That deficit is projected to reach $213 million this year.

The internal review found that the average graduation rate for students in the program was 38.6% while the average annual per-student cost was $80,284.65.

The Labor Department says in the statement that it will initiate "an orderly transition for students, staff, and local communities" but did not provide details.

Neither Eckerd Connects nor Exceed responded to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.

This was the second layoff in the region blamed on changes in federal funding. Last month, Tampa-based GroundGame.Health laid off 97 employees, attributing the cuts to a change in how the government in Washington, D.C. approaches health care.