Hartford -- Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's senior adviser said this afternoon that the first batch of layoff notices to state employees went out today, with more to come this week.

Roy Occhiogrosso declined to estimate for reporters the number of notices given out, saying that a detailed report on the workers' agencies and positions would be available Thursday. A number of managers are included in the layoffs.

"A significant number of people were notified today, more will be notified tomorrow and the day after and the day after," Occhiogrosso said.

Malloy has said that 4,724 employees could be laid off.

An additional, unspecified but "significant" number of layoffs would happen later under the program and funding cut options that could take effect July 1 if labor concessions don't come through, Occhiogrosso said.

Union officials had yet to learn by early afternoon which agencies and employees will be affected by the initial round of notices.

“We haven’t been notified of when, where, how or who,” said Matt O’Connor, a spokesman for the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition, an umbrella of 15 state unions.

 O’Connor said union leaders are still interested in working with the administration on a deal that works for all parties. “We’ll take this day by day, understanding all of the pressures and the deadlines that are out there until we reach a mutual agreement,” he said.

Leo Canty, vice president of the American Federation of Teachers-Connecticut, said he’s not interested in rushing to an agreement just because notices are in the mail.

“The clock for us doesn’t matter as much as getting this right,” Canty told reporters. “We can’t really put (an agreement) forward for the membership unless it’s something that they’ll vote on because the consequences if they vote no -- then we’re in a bigger pickle than we are now."

If and when unions reach an agreement with the administration, rank-and-file workers would still have to vote to accept any changes to their pay and benefits. Adjustments to health care and retirement benefits would require approval from 13 of the 15 unions. Pay cuts or furloughs necessitate separate votes by each union.

The governor is seeking $1 billion in annual savings and givebacks from state employees. Talks between the administration and union leaders are set to pick up again later today after ending without an agremment in the predawn hours.

Occhiogrosso said the notifications were, when possible, given in person to workers at their workplaces. Others were notified by certified mail.

In a statement announcing the layoffs, Malloy, a Democrat, said that union negotiators "have thus far not offered enough" in concessions. He did not say what his negotiators were asking for, nor what the unions were willing to give.

"I am attempting to bring the benefits enjoyed by state employees -- wages, health care, pension benefits -- more in line with those enjoyed by their counterparts in the private sector and in the federal workforce," Malloy said.

Those set to receive the layoff notices represent 10 percent of the state's approximately 46,000 full-time positions paid through state funds. The layoffs, if enacted, are projected to result in $455 million in annual savings.

Malloy said the Office of Policy and Management will begin cutting an additional $545 million from the two year, $40.1 billion budget that last week passed the legislature and his desk. The budget calls for $1.4 billion in tax increases in the next fiscal year, the state's biggest tax hike in two decades.

"Those cuts, many of them programmatic, will be spread across state government and will, in all likelihood, result in additional layoffs," he said.

The governor did not identify the seniority of workers receiving notices. The most senior unionized employees in state government require eight weeks notice before a layoff. Less senior workers require six-, four-, or two-week notice periods. However, layoffs typically occur on a last-in, first-out seniority basis.

The State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition, which represents the 15 state unions, informed its members Tuesday morning that its leaders were disappointed by the governor's decision.

"We have said time and again that laying off workers, whether in the public or private sector, and slashing vital public services will prove disastrous to our shared goal of creating jobs and rebuilding the middle class – especially at a time when our 9.1 percent unemployment rate is already higher than the national average [9 percent]."

The governor said the Office of Policy and Management will begin issuing layoff notices "in an orderly fashion." Malloy held off from issuing layoff notices last Friday as the administration tried over the weekend and Monday to reach agreement with the unions. Talks continued without success through Monday night and into early Tuesday morning.

Discussions between the parties began in early March.

"I want to say to the people of Connecticut, again, that this is not the road I want to go down," Malloy said in a statement. "But I simply refuse to dig us into a deeper hole. Come July 1, we will have a balanced budget in place -- one that is balanced honestly, with no gimmicks, and one that begins the process necessary to build a smaller, leaner, more affordable state government."