WASHINGTON — After months of agonizing about how to deal with the effects of government spending cuts, senior F.B.I. officials in Washington have decided how they will reduce the bureau’s spending: they will shut down its headquarters and offices across the country for roughly 10 weekdays over the next year.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s plans mean that on those days, the bureau will have only a skeleton crew on hand, which raises questions about how effectively it can respond to crime.

While the shutdown conjures images of the recent movie “The Purge,” in which the government allows people to commit crimes like murder and rape for 12 hours once a year, F.B.I. officials said they would have plans for agents to return to work if there was a terrorist attack or a crime like a kidnapping.

Senior agency officials in Washington decided the closings were the easiest way to furlough employees, whose compensation accounts for roughly 60 percent of the bureau’s budget, according to people briefed on the plan. It costs the F.B.I. about $16 million a day to pay its employees, and it is far more cost effective to have the entire work force stay home at the same time than to allow employees to choose the days they want off, the people said. Other federal law enforcement agencies are expected to adopt similar furlough plans as cost-cutting measures.