Fed to Outsource Cash Distribution, Layoff 37 in Nashville Office

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta is trimming its Nashville office to only a barebones staff. Cash counting will move to the regional office.

The Fed will sell its building in downtown Nashville and lay off 37 employees at the end of next month. Spokesperson Jean Tate says these are assembly line jobs handling cash.

“They either receive currency in from armored carriers from depository institutions and count and sort it, or they are taking money that’s been counted and sorted and feeding it through the processing machine.”

Laid off workers are getting some kind of “separation package.” There will be 15 employees left in Nashville, but their jobs will be related to economic forecasting and monetary policy.

The downsizing is an attempt by the Fed to increase efficiency in getting cash to and from banks. Birmingham made the transition in 2006. Nashville and San Antonio are just the latest middle-market cities to lose cash-counting operations.

Banks won’t notice much of a difference, Tate says, even though their orders will now be shipped from Atlanta.

“The only thing that really changes to a depository institution in Nashville is that they would be sending their armored carrier to a separate location to pick up their currency orders from the Federal Reserve.”

Nashville’s so-called “cash depot” will be operated by a third-party.