Another Employee Cut at JPL

Earlier today, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) announced additional employee cuts:

While we have taken various measures to meet our current FY’25 budget allocation, we have reached the difficult decision to reduce the JPL workforce through layoffs. This reduction affects approximately 325 of our colleagues, an impact of about 5% of our workforce. The impacts are occurring across technical, business, and support areas of the Laboratory. These are painful but necessary adjustments that will enable us to adhere to our budget while continuing our important work for NASA and our nation.

You may recall that JPL laid off about 8 percent of its staff back in February due to budget issues associated with the Mars Sample Return, so this is the second hit this year.

Addressing these earlier cuts, Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA) stated his concerns:

I worry that, when we make certain decisions, that we’re cutting to the bone and, in this case, potentially amputating JPL.

It appears the bone cutting continues, though JPL management stated, “…we will be well positioned for the work ahead.”

Let’s hope so.