Agency says it is on pace to reduce its total staff by nearly 30,000 employees by the end of this fiscal year through retirements, attrition and deferred resignations after previously saying it would need to cull 83,

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will make two-thirds fewer employee cuts this fiscal year than it first targeted, reducing staff by about 30,000 people rather than 80,000, the agency said on Monday.

The Department of Veterans Affairs earlier this year had planned to cut tens of thousands of workers to return its workforce to just under 400,000.