JPL announces another round of layoffs

For the second time this year, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Tuesday announced it would undergo another round of layoffs to address reduced budget spending from NASA.

In a statement, JPL said the cuts would affect about 325 employees, or roughly 5% of its workforce. The cuts were expected to occur across technical, business, and support areas.

"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," the statement added.

Employees affected by the latest round of job cuts were to be notified Wednesday.

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In February, JPL announced plans to lay off about 530 employees, or roughly 8% of its workforce, in response to a reduced budget from NASA and lack of a new spending plan from Congress for the new fiscal year.

In a memo to employees published on JPL’s website on Tuesday, Director Laurie Leshin said that despite another round of layoffs being "incredibly difficult for our community, this number is lower than projected a few months ago thanks in part to the hard work of so many people across JPL."

"The workforce assessment conducted as part of this process has been both extensive and thorough, and although we can never have perfect insight into the future, I sincerely believe that after this action we will be at a more stable workforce level moving forward," Leshin added.

The layoffs in February were prompted by reduced federal spending on the Mars Sample Return mission, the goal of which is to identify whether life has ever existed on Mars by studying bits and pieces of the red planet.

Legislator response

In a statement emailed to LAist, Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) said she was disappointed with the layoffs once again.

“Every layoff devastates the uniquely talented workers and their loved ones and threatens future scientific discoveries. NASA Science missions continue to unlock some of the greatest questions humankind has, inspire the world, and demonstrate American leadership in technology,” Chu said.

Chu, whose district includes JPL and Caltech, said she hoped the layoffs would stop with more stable funding and added that she would work to ensure funding was included in upcoming congressional spending bills.

“After numerous attempts to prevent NASA Administrator Nelson from gutting Mars Sample Return mission funding, I am deeply disappointed to see the lab forced to make these job cuts,” U.S. Senator Alex Padilla said in an email to LAist. “JPL’s work has allowed us to explore new frontiers — from the moon and Mars to interstellar space. I will continue working to prevent further cuts in appropriations and adequately fund the laboratory’s mission.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.