Members of the French diplomatic corps are abandoning their traditional restraint to go on strike.

They are outraged by a planned reform that they fear will damage their careers and France's standing in the world, the AP reported.

Some ambassadors and numerous diplomats from Tokyo to the Middle East to Washington said they would support a one-day strike. They want President Emmanuel Macron to abandon a plan to merge career diplomats with more civil servants starting in January.

The measure announced by Macron in an April decree will reportedly affect about 800 diplomats. Opponents argue that this is just the beginning.

"We risk the disappearance of our professional diplomacy," a group of 500 diplomats, wrote in an open letter published last week in Le Monde. "Today, (diplomatic) agents [...] are convinced it is the very existence of the ministry that is now being called into question."

Union leaders said the action was only the second strike by French diplomats in 20 years.

The government reform is designed to modernize and diversify France's diplomatic corps, which dates back to the 16th century, and tear down the walls of what some in the government consider an elite institution.

It will place diplomats from all branches of the civil service in a large pool, encouraging transfers to other ministries and forcing staff to compete with outsiders for valuable diplomatic posts. Diplomats argue that their jobs require specialization and experience gained through years of service in positions around the world, and there is no place for amateurs.