NASA’s JPL announces layoffs affecting 5% of workforce, hundreds of workers
Retired NASA Astronaut Terry Virts examines the latest developments in the Boeing Starliner mission.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) will lay off most of its employees on Wednesday, according to a report sent by the company on Tuesday.
The lab, which specializes in robotic spacecraft and is owned by the California Institute of Technology, is laying off 5% of its workforce. According to the memo, the La Cañada Flintridge-based laboratory will lose about 325 employees.
“While we have taken various steps to meet our current FY’25 budget, we have come to the difficult decision to reduce JPL’s workforce through layoffs,” the JPL announcement read.
JPL also noted that the layoffs affect employees in all “technical, business, and support areas of the Laboratory.”
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A general view of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) on September 22, 2020 in Pasadena, California. (Photos by AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC/Getty Images)
“These are painful but necessary changes that will enable us to stick to our budget while continuing our important mission for NASA and our nation,” the statement said.
In the letter, JPL Director Laurie Leshin explained that the lab needs to “tighten our belts” to meet the FY25 fiscal budget.
“We have taken seriously the need to re-increase the size of our workforce, whether directly funded (project) or funded through overhead (burden),” the director wrote. “With low budgets and based on forecasts [sic] moving forward, we had to tighten our belts across the board, and you’ll see that reflected in the effects of the layoffs.”
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In an aerial view, storm clouds hang over the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) on February 7, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (David McNew/Getty Images/Getty Images)
Leshin also noted that all JPL employees must work from home on Wednesday.
“I know that my colleague’s absence will be greatly felt, especially after a very challenging year at the Lab,” Leshin wrote. “To those who are leaving JPL as a result of this action, we are very grateful for your valuable contributions to JPL and NASA.”
Earlier this year, JPL laid off 530 employees and 40 contractors – about 8% of its workforce. U.S. Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., commented on the layoffs at the time and called the lab’s budget cuts “absurd.”
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A 1:24th scale model of the Psyche spacecraft is displayed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, on April 11, 2022. (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
“I’m not done helping lead the fight with our CA colleagues to reverse @NASA’s premature budget cuts to the Mars Sample Return mission,” he wrote. “I hope in the coming weeks we can work to strike a deal with the Administration and Congress to restore funding to the levels needed to rehire workers and promote the kinds of scientific discoveries that @NASAJPL has been at the forefront of for decades.”
FOX Business’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
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