Produced by: Tarun Mishra Designed by: Manoj Kumar
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the agency's primary center for robotic planetary exploration, is reducing its workforce by approximately 8%, affecting around 530 employees and 40 contractors.
The news of the layoffs was announced by JPL officials, citing budgetary issues as the reason for the decision, according to a report by Space.com.
The cuts will impact both technical and support areas of the lab, with officials describing them as necessary but painful adjustments. "The impacts will occur across both technical and support areas of the Lab," said JPL officials. "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."
JPL, managed by the California Institute of Technology, receives federal funding and leads numerous high-profile NASA science projects, including missions to Mars.
JPL plays a crucial role in the Mars sample return (MSR) campaign, a high-priority project aiming to collect and cache samples for future return to Earth.
The projected budget for the MSR campaign has raised concerns, with estimates ranging from $8 billion to $11 billion. Congress has sought to control costs, leading to a significant decrease in funding for the project.1.
The Senate has allocated only $300 million for MSR in the fiscal year 2024 appropriations bill, marking a substantial 63% decrease from the previous year's funding. Despite the ongoing negotiations between the House and Senate to finalize the fiscal year 2024 appropriations bill, NASA directed JPL to prepare for a budget of $300 million for the MSR project.
In response to the budget constraints, JPL implemented a hiring freeze, reduced MSR contracts, and made cuts to burden budgets across the lab.
Despite these measures, the lab determined that further action was needed to mitigate deeper cuts later in the fiscal year, leading to the decision to reduce its workforce.