NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) simply outdoors Los Angeles will let go of 530 employees and 40 contractors as a cost-cutting measure amid a failure to safe federal funding for the fiscal 12 months.
“These are painful but necessary adjustments that will enable us to adhere to our budget allocation while continuing our important work for NASA and our nation,” a JPL assertion mentioned.
The layoffs signify about 8% of the Pasadena, California-based lab’s workforce.
In a memo to staff, JPL Director Laurie Leshin wrote that the lab is ready for funding from Congress for the Mars Sample Return mission, and that it was already working underneath tight finances constraints that resulted in a hiring freeze, diminished MSR contracts and cuts to burden budgets throughout the Lab.
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The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The JPL mentioned it’s shedding 530 employees this week. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Some on-site contractors had been let go earlier this month in an effort to scale back spending. NASA beforehand instructed the JPL to plan for an MSR finances of $300 million, a 63% drop from the earlier 12 months.
“Unfortunately, those actions alone are not enough for us to make it through the remainder of the fiscal year,” Leshin wrote. “So in the absence of an appropriation, and as much as we wish we didn’t need to take this action, we must now move forward to protect against even deeper cuts later were we to wait.”
JPL staff have been directed to do business from home on Wednesday and people impacted by layoffs will likely be notified. Those who’re let go will obtain their base pay and advantages for 60 days.
Those who’re eligible will likely be provided severance packages, “transitional benefits including placement services and other benefits resource information.”
“To our colleagues who will be leaving JPL, I want you to know how grateful I am for the exceptional contributions you have made to our mission and our community,” Leshin wrote. “Your talents leave a lasting mark on JPL. You will always be a part of our story and you have made a positive difference here.”
An Earth Entry System capsule is ready for the Drop Tower Test demonstration for the Mars Sample Return mission at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP by way of Getty Images/File)
In submit on X, U.S. Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., mentioned her ideas had been with the impacted JPL employees and their households.
“I’m not done helping lead the fight with my CA colleagues to reverse @NASA ’s premature & misguided budget cuts to the Mars Sample Return mission,” she wrote. “I’m hopeful in the coming weeks we can work to broker a deal with the Administration and Congress to restore funding to the levels necessary to rehire workers and promote the kinds of scientific discovery @NASAJPL has been on the frontlines of for decades.”
https://www.foxnews.com/us/nasa-jet-propulsion-laboratory-california-lay-off-five-hundred-thirty-workers-lack-funding
