As the debate rages over the future role of the Federal Reserve, some central bank's employees may face an uncertain job future.
Some of the Fed's 3,000 workers are concerned about losing their jobs or getting transferred, according to The New York Times.
A recent reorganization of the central bank has centered more power in its Washington offices and less in its 12 district banks, which have been criticized as too close to the institutions they regulate, according to The Wall Street Journal.
As part of the revamp, instead of the regional Fed banks looking at banks on an individualized basis, bank supervisors have teamed with economists to examine the flow of risks through the financial system, the paper reports. In another change, "horizontal reviews" led by Washington-based employees are emphasizing comparisons of risk across banks to test their assumptions.
Another threat to the Fed employees' job security: The Senate Banking Committee is still weighing whether to give the central bank's job of supervising smaller banks to another regulator, such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.