(The Center Square) – The Colorado Governor’s Office of Information Technology this week laid off 173 state employees and replaced the department director after two failed cybersecurity audits in recent years.
The department restructure reportedly came last-minute and caught employees off guard as the Governor’s Office looked to shake-up the OIT to address the cybersecurity concerns and take the department in a new direction.
“I reached the difficult but necessary conclusion that the way OIT has been operating will not get us to where we need to be,” David Edinger, current chief information officer and executive director of OIT, said in the layoff announcement. “We are fundamentally changing how we operate, and that shift requires a restructure of our workforce. This is a reflection of our new strategic direction, not the talent or commitment of those affected by the layoff.”
The OIT receives a $373 million annual budget from the state and oversees roughly $1 billion in federal grants to maintain and improve the technology that residents use to access state resources such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid.
But the state’s most recent audit found the recommended improvements the OIT failed to implement put residents at risk of having their data unsecured when accessing state services.
Edinger’s resignation, along with the laid-off department staff, came shortly ahead of his departure. His replacement Sarah Tuneberg, currently the interim deputy director of digital and delivery at the OIT, also previously led the state’s response to COVID-19. She is set to take over the department on June 1, with Edinger leaving June 11.
Edinger joined the OIT in the months after a May 2023 cybersecurity audit that left the department with 71 recommendations to improve itself. In January 2026, a second audit by the state found the department had only fully implemented 10 of the recommendations.
The department said its new direction under Tuneberg will focus on having more specialized roles and assigning teams to specific government agencies. The department’s goal is to do more work on specific services rather than responding to issues or needed improvements as they arise.
“This is a heavy day at OIT as we say goodbye to many of our colleagues,” said Tuneberg in the department’s announcement. “It’s bittersweet because, at the same time, OIT is taking an important step forward.”
The Center Square asked the OIT about media reports that the 173 employees received only a few minutes notice before their layoff announcement, but the department did not comment in time for this story. The OIT said the office was “committed to supporting all impacted employees during this transition” and would provide a variety of options, including severance and health benefits. But the office did not specify how long former employees would receive support.
