Nasa Jet Propulsion Laboratory will lay off 530 employees

Nasa Lay Off: Is the job not safe in NASA also? NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Nasa JPL) has announced the layoff of 530 employees i.e. about 8 percent. The ongoing uncertainty regarding the budget for the year 2024 and reduction in the budget has been cited as the reason for this. About 530 employees and 40 contractors will be laid off due to spending cuts for Mars Sample Return (MSR) and efforts to reduce costs, a statement said.

It is noteworthy that by the year 2030, NASA has planned to bring those samples from Mars to Earth, which are currently being collected on the Red Planet. NASA JPL says that we have to take the difficult decision of layoffs because we have received less budget from NASA and there is uncertainty about the upcoming budget.

NASA JPL had fired 100 contractors only last month. Many of them were working on Mars Sample Return (MSR). JPL Director Laurie Leshin said in an interview last month that she had informed employees in advance about the possibility of layoffs.

In a memo given to JPL staff on February 6, Leshin said that measures such as a ban on new recruitment and reduction in Mars Sample Return (MSR) are now forcing layoffs. He also said that the employees who are working will work from home, so that they do not come under any stress.

Recently, Leshin had told staff that the MSR mission could be limited to a budget of $300 million (about Rs 2,490 crore) this year. The US space agency has cut the budget of many of its missions. The agency has been forced to take this step due to low budget sanction from the government.