NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced Tuesday, November 12, its second wave of major layoffs in nine months, eliminating more than 300 jobs, or about 5% of its workforce, to cope with budgetary constraints.

This latest cycle concerns 325 positions in almost all sectors, including technical, project, commercial and support. JPL said in a statement. Calling the cuts “painful but necessary adjustments,” JPL said the reductions are primarily intended to help it meet its fiscal 2025 budget while continuing its work for NASA and the country.

“While this is incredibly difficult for our community, this number is lower than expected a few months ago, in part due to the hard work of so many people within JPL,” JPL Director Laurie Leshin wrote. in a memo to employees Tuesday morning announcing the layoffs. , which will come into force on Wednesday, November 13.

Current discounts follow JPL laid off 530 employees in Februarywhich included 40 subcontractors, as part of a laboratory-wide cost-cutting measure.

The February layoff, which represented about 8 percent of JPL’s total workforce, was largely a response to a planned $300 million NASA budget cut — a 63 percent drop from the previous year – primarily affecting the Mars Sample Return mission, a program aimed at bringing Martian samples to Earth for analysis.

At the time, congressional leaders, including Rep. Judy Chu, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla and Sen.-elect Adam Schiff, urged the White House to reconsider the cuts before finalizing the 2024 federal budget.

In a statement, Chu said she was “once again disappointed” by Tuesday’s announcement of new layoffs at JPL, which followed hundreds of job cuts at the Laboratory earlier this year.

“My thoughts are with the dedicated and experienced workers who will be affected,” Chu said. “I am a strong supporter of JPL as a national asset that has helped us accomplish some of the greatest space and scientific feats in decades. Each layoff devastates uniquely talented workers and their loved ones and threatens future scientific discoveries.

She hopes the layoffs end with more stable funding, Chu said, adding that she is working with her California colleagues in Congress to secure the necessary funding in upcoming spending bills to fully support JPL.

Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo also expressed disappointment with Tuesday’s layoffs.

“It is very disappointing that NASA is allowing these reductions,” Gordo said. “The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, its employees and supporters are among the greatest scientific minds in the world.”

Gordo shared that he contacted JPL executives as soon as he received the news and hoped this would be the “final cut.”

“I hope, as leaders of JPL, that this will be the final cut,” he said. “And I am even more hopeful that in the future, NASA and federal leaders will invest in our space programs. This is the responsible thing to do, not only for JPL, but for the United States of America and for the world. »

Gordo added that the City of Pasadena fully supports JPL and its employees, noting that he has offered JPL management’s assistance in contacting congressional leaders to urge them to fully fund the lab.

This week’s firing comes after a public meeting in which Leshin discussed current funding challenges and what she said were impacts on the lab’s workforce. JPL also explored multiple workforce scenarios and collaborated with partners like NASA to minimize negative impacts to its capabilities and team.

But despite all these efforts, JPL must “conduct further downsizing to meet available funding for FY25,” Leshin said.

“The workforce assessment conducted as part of this process has been both thorough and thorough, and while we will never be able to have a perfect vision of the future, I sincerely believe that after this action we will achieve a more stable staffing level in the future,” she said. said.

After the latest reduction, JPL will have around 5,500 regular employees.

“I think this is a stable and sustainable staffing level for the future,” Leshin said. “While we can never be 100% sure of the future budget, we will be well positioned for the work ahead. »

JPL employees must work from home on Wednesday, regardless of their telework status, Leshin added. They will be invited to attend a brief virtual lab-wide meeting with herself and Assistant Director Leslie Livesay at 9:30 a.m., during which the two will present the current status of the process and what employees are working on. can be expected for the future.

“This may not help much in this difficult moment, but I want to be perfectly clear in my thoughts and point of view,” Leshin said. “If we stay strong together, we will get through this, just as we have during other turbulent times in JPL’s nearly 90-year history.”