Entrance to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, February 7, 2024.
Robin Beck | AFP | Getty Images
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory division announced Monday that it will lay off about 550 employees, or 11% of JPL’s workforce, as part of a restructuring.
JPL Director Dave Gallagher said in a message to the department posted on the institute’s website that the layoffs are “unrelated to the current government shutdown.”
JPL is a research and development laboratory funded by the federal space agency, NASA, and managed by the California Institute of Technology.
“It will not be easy, but we believe that taking these actions now will help transform the laboratory at the scale and pace needed to achieve humanity’s boldest ambitions in space,” Gallagher wrote in a separate memo to JPL employees and contractors.
Gallagher said in a statement that JPL’s restructuring began in July and that “over the past several months, we have been openly discussing the challenges and difficult choices ahead with our employees.”
“This week’s actions will not be easy, but they are essential to securing JPL’s future by building a leaner infrastructure, focusing on our core technology capabilities, maintaining fiscal discipline, and positioning us to compete in the evolving space ecosystem, all while continuing to accomplish critical work for NASA and the nation,” Gallagher wrote.
Gallagher said JPL officials were notified of the situation on Tuesday and that “the new lab structure…will take effect on Wednesday.”
