PROVIDENCE – Today is supposed to be D-Day for the dozens of state employees who received layoffs notices two weeks ago.

By mid-day today, however, it remained unclear how many were, in fact, packing up to leave and how many had initiated a months-long process that would allow them to “bump’’ into a job held by another less senior employee.

No immediate answers were available this morning on the status of Governor Carcieri’s vow to eliminate 1,000-plus jobs to save $100 million to help stave off a projected deficit of up to $450 million during the year that begins on July 1.

And the numbers on how many people had received layoff notices dropped slightly from where they were at last report by the administration.

But Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal said as of today 154 layoff notices have gone out; another 330 state workers have been notified their jobs may be abolished or “privatized’’ in the future.

In addition, the administration says it has put 168 temporary workers – also known as contract employees – on notice that, in the event they are still here, their jobs will end on June 30.

Rounding out the administration’s count are reported plans to leave vacant the jobs of a presumed 487 state employees who leave voluntarily by June 30. If all of those assumptions pan out, the state will have eliminated 1,139 of the 15,000-plus state employees and 660 contractors who, at last report, were working for state government.

Neal confirmed the administration has offered state employees whose positions are being eliminated “the opportunity to remain in state service until the end of the current fiscal year if they agree to retire by June 30.

“Governor Carcieri’s plan to reduce the size of the state workforce has always been designed to save money in the fiscal year that begins on July 1, 2008…Allowing people to retire by the end of this fiscal year would still enable the state to achieve this goal. It would also allow the state to avoid the expenses associated with bumping, unemployment costs, and 90 days of health care coverage for employees who choose to retire,’’ he said.

But, “that said, only four affected employees have chosen to take that option.’’

At this point, Neal said, “we currently expect that the majority of state employees with statutory status will bump into filled positions. As a result, while that employee may still be employed by the state at the end of this process, another currently unidentified employee will not.’’

In the end, he said, the administration expects the process "will result in savings.''

For some high-end workers, such as Dr. Robert Marshall, the Health Department’s $108,823 assistant director for community affairs, the layoff notice means a new assignment within the health department.

State health director David Gifford said Marshall’s "job position'' is being eliminated, but as a state worker since October 1982 Marshall has what is called statutory status, which means “we can’t’’ lay him off. Gifford said Marshall was being reassigned to what he called “a paid vacancy.’’ Among his new duties: providing staff assistance to the Health Services Council, the arm of government that will review the proposed Lifespan and Care New England hospital mergers.

It could not be determined how many others on the layoff list are being moved into other empty jobs. But Neal said: "To the extent that a vacant position is deemed critical by the affected department and by the Department of Administration and is filled with an existing employee with statutory status, it will enable the state not to hire a new person or pay an additional salary to fill that position.''

The Administration is currently advertising to fill eight openings for $33,739-to-$37,330 a year “billing specialists’’ in the state controller’s office so not all hiring has stopped. The application period runs from December 5-11, 2007.

As of mid-October, there were a total 15,723 people receiving state pay checks, not including the 660 or so “contract employees’’ scattered through state government. At that time, there were 1,034 vacancies in authorized (though not necessarily funded) positions. At this point, Neal said, the governor

"intends to eliminate the majority of funded vacancies that existed as of July 1, 2007.''

While the numbers make state government the largest single employer in Rhode Island, Governing Magazine ran a recent chart that showed Connecticut with 68,600 employees, Maine with 29,200, Massachusetts with 120,100, New Hampshire with 24,700 and Vermont 18,800.