The $85 billion in spending cuts known as the sequester will cause flight delays due to fewer air traffic controllers, reduce the number of vaccines for children, furlough federal employees and that's just a small sampling of the impact.
One employee at the San Francisco Federal Building said his department would be affected and that some employees might be furloughed right away.
Another federal employee said she's been threatened by furloughs many times but that they've never materialized. Multiple people at the Federal Building said they haven't been told much but expect to know more Friday.
Furloughs reach beyond the Federal Building. FAA furloughs could impact local airports like San Francisco International, which could lead to flight delays for passengers. Four air traffic control towers in the Bay Area are at risk of closure.
There are also defense jobs on the line. Some 64,000 civilian defense jobs could be furloughed throughout California.
UC schools could lose billions in research funding. There are also 1,200 teaching or teacher aide jobs that could face furloughs. There could also be less money for 300 schools throughout California.
And as many as 400,000 Californians could lose 10 percent of their extended unemployment benefits.
President Obama meets congressional leaders Friday to discuss the across-the-board spending cuts. But leaders of both parties agree there's virtually no chance they'll stop the cuts from going through.
Friday's meeting is the first time this year that the president is meeting with House and Senate GOP leaders.
