JPL Lays Off Another 550 Workers

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is laying off another 550 workers beginning tomorrow.  JPL Director David Gallagher said the move is due to an ongoing reorganization that began in July, not because of the government shutdown. The number represents an 11 percent cutback and comes on top of two layoffs last year.

In a message to employees today, Gallagher said they would be “notified of their status” tomorrow, October 14, and while the “action is not easy” it is “essential to securing JPL’s future.”

 

JPL is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) operated for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA.  Caltech, not NASA, makes JPL personnel decisions, but they are largely based on expected funding levels from NASA.

One of the world’s premier scientific organizations known especially for building and operating Mars orbiters, landers, and rovers, JPL has been under strain since early 2024 when layoffs began.

In February 2024, JPL dismissed 8 percent of its workforce, plus contractors, largely because of uncertainty surrounding the future of one of its flagship missions, Mars Sample Return (MSR). The MSR program was considerably over cost and behind schedule and losing support in Congress. More layoffs followed in November — another 5 percent.

MSR’s situation worsened thereafter, with then-NASA Administrator Bill Nelson deciding in January 2025 to punt a decision on the program’s future into the next administration. The Trump Administration decided to propose terminating the program in the FY2026 budget request as part of a dramatic 47 percent cut to NASA’s science portfolio.

Although House and Senate appropriations rejected the broad cuts to NASA’s science program in their markups of the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) bill, only the House Appropriations Committee specifically mentioned funding MSR. It offered a $300 million lifeline, a tiny amount for the multi-billion dollar program. The latest estimate was in the $5.8-$7.7 billion range, down from $11 billion. Senate appropriators were silent on MSR.

With the government in the 13th day of an indefinite shutdown and the appropriations process in limbo, it’s not clear when a decision will be made on NASA’s final funding for FY2026.

Gallagher was appointed JPL Director on June 2 following the resignation of Laurie Leshin. He’s been with JPL since 1989 and was Associate Director for Strategic Integration before taking on this new role.

Today’s layoffs represent 11 percent of the current workforce according to a JPL spokesperson.

Thomas Zurbuchen, former NASA Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, told SpacePolicyOnline.com today that while the cutbacks are not entirely surprising, they are worrisome.

Over the years, JPL had adopted a “bigger is better” strategy that grew the workforce to more than 7,000 people, far more than required to develop and execute the cutting-edge Earth and space science missions for which JPL is renowned. Some degree of shrinking was inevitable. But now JPL seems to be on a trajectory that will lead to a “dismantling” of U.S. leadership in science and technology “at an unprecedented level,” he said.

Some JPLers will take their talents to industry, which is increasingly innovative, but the government remains the source of fundamental science and technology upon which much U.S. leadership relies. A discussion is needed at a national level on whether the United States really wants to be a leader in space, Zurbuchen stressed, especially for sending people to Mars — JPL is the only U.S. entity that has ever landed anything on the Red Planet — and advanced remote sensing technology applicable to Earth sensing and national security. “JPL is the leading organization for missions in science and technology worldwide. Letting it fade away will set us back a decade or perhaps longer.”

Overall, JPL’s Full Time Equivalent (FTE) workforce has dropped by about 25 percent since December 2023 including both layoffs and attrition.