“We’re confident that we’re going to roll this out in a way that ensures there’s no operational impact on the organization,” he said, adding that the T hasn’t used such a program since about 1991.

Starting Thursday, the T will send workers notice about two buyout programs that will pay eligible employees to leave the agency. Leaders hope the incentives, as well as consolidating and freezing positions, will reduce the payroll by about 300 positions in all, Chief Administrator Brian Shortsleeve told reporters Wednesday.

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority leaders want to trim their payroll by $25 million by offering buyouts and eliminating open positions — and its chief administrator warned that workers could face layoffs if the agency doesn’t cut enough expenses in the coming year.


Agency officials say that, including benefits, they hope to save about $37.5 million annually. The agency currently has about 6,500 workers on its payroll.

The buyouts and potential layoffs are just a few of several big changes hitting the MBTA as Shortsleeve and the fiscal control board that oversees the agency look to balance its budget. During the 2017 fiscal year, Shortsleeve said the agency — which has an annual budget of about $2 billion — could see a deficit of about $80 million.

The MBTA will soon also pursue other moves that could hit its workers, such as outsourcing operations for fare collection services.

Asked about potential layoffs, Shortsleeve acknowledged that they were possible if officials aren’t able to cut enough expenses in the coming year.

“Everything is on the table,” he said. “We’re very serious about putting the T on the path to long-term structural sustainability.”

The T plans to offer two buyout programs: One will target about 1,100 workers who are eligible to retire with a payout of 20 percent of the worker’s salary. Officials estimate that they would pay an average of about $16,576 to workers to retire, and hope to get 300 workers to retire.


The other program will target 2,200 workers who are not eligible for retirement, except for subway and bus drivers. The agency will pay employees with five to 10 years of experience $5,000 to leave. Workers with more experience would receive a payout of about $10,000. Officials hope about 200 workers will take the incentive.

Shortsleeve said the agency is focused more on achieving the goal of cutting $25 million in salaries, than on the number of people who leave the agency. He said the T could aim to get 500 workers to leave, and potentially hire about 200 to fill some of those positions, particularly drivers.

Workers will get 30 days to decide on the buyouts, and the agency reserves the right to keep some employees on for a certain amount of time to ensure that service isn’t hurt by the exodus of workers.

“I’m confident about the amount of planning that we’ve done over the months . . . that we’re going to do this in the way that doesn’t impact operations,” Shortsleeve said.

Louis J. Antonellis, president of the union that represents maintenance workers for the fare machines and signals, said he couldn’t yet characterize the buyouts’ impact on the agency and his workers.

“We’ll wait and see,” he said. “The devil’s in the details.”

Nicole Dungca can be reached at nicole.dungca@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @ndungca.