NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab Is Laying Off Over 500 Employees - Here's Why

In a brief statement, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) Director Dave Gallagher announced that the organization is letting go of around 550 employees at its La Cañada Flintridge facility in California, across multiple departments, including business, technical, and support staff. The federally funded research and development center is owned by NASA and managed by Caltech. Gallagher stated that the decision was not easy, but "essential to securing JPL's future by creating a leaner infrastructure." With an organization that previously employed approximately 5,500, these recent layoffs mark a 10% reduction in staff, not including contractors.

The organization's director went on to explain that the cuts are not related to the ongoing government shutdown. Instead, he noted that the decision was part of the reorganization of the lab that began in July. This shift was likely a response to the financial uncertainty that has been looming over the organization for some time. In February 2024, the organization let go of approximately 530 employees, or about 8%, partly due to the absence of a fiscal year 2024 appropriation from Congress and uncertainty about funding for the Mars Sample Return (MSR) program. Two more major layoffs occurred before the year was over, with the lab losing nearly 1,000 contractors and employees last year alone.

Additionally, the appropriation bill proposed by Congress slashed $1.3 billion from NASA's $7.3 billion budget for the Science Mission Directorate for 2025. The department notably funds missions for JPL, so it's not too far-fetched to say this could be a contributing factor to the layoffs, as it tries to function with the newly imposed budget constraints. But this has not been confirmed by JPL.

NASA as a whole has been in the crosshairs of the Trump administration's efforts to scale back the size of the federal workforce for some time now. In 2024, 870 employees left the lab in the first round of exoduses and 3,000 in the second via the White House's Deferred Resignation Program (DRP). This resulted in more than a 20% reduction in workforce at NASA.

The future of the space agency is also shrouded in an air of uncertainty. The fiscal year 2026 budget proposal introduced by the White House in May would cut NASA's budget by 24%, reducing it from the $24 billion requested to $18 billion for 2026. This has yet to pass and is subject to change, but if it does, it could mean more cuts for NASA and JPL by extension.