President Obama said Friday that agencies might leave some vacancies as the administration figures out how to save money, The Washington Post reports.

Obama said he did not rule out furloughing employees, but this could lead to loss of services.

Addressing the issue of federal pay, Obama said his team has examined pay levels, “and the data we get back indicates that high-skilled workers in government are slightly underpaid. Lower-skilled workers are slightly overpaid relative to the private sector,” according to the article.

In his speech, Obama said he wanted to avoid lay-offs. But, he added, “if that’s the only way to achieve the savings, then we have to make some decisions about what that means in terms of services.”

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