---
title: "NASA Is Laying Off Hundreds of Employees Again"
description: "NASA is undergoing another round of layoffs. And once again, it's the space agency's famous Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California that's taking the hit. On Tuesday, JPL announced that it will be laying off 325 employees, or about five percent of its workforce, marking the second time this year that the research lab has downsized […]"
date: "2024-11-14"
modified: "2024-11-14"
authors:
  - name: "Frank Landymore"
    job_title: "Contributing Writer"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-jpl-laying-off-hundreds"
categories:
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "JPL"
  - "NASA"
  - "space"
  - "the digest"
---

# NASA Is Laying Off Hundreds of Employees Again

![NASA is laying off hundreds of employees at its Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, in response to a lower budget.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/nasa-jpl-laying-off-hundreds.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Ezra Acayan via Getty\</em\>*

## Punching Bag

NASA is undergoing another round of layoffs. And once again, it's the space agency's famous Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California that's taking the hit.

On Tuesday, JPL [announced](<https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/jpl-workforce-update_-/>) that it will be saying goodbye to 325 employees, or about five percent of its workforce, marking the second time this year that the research lab has downsized its personnel.

"This is a message I had hoped not to have to write," JPL director Laurie Leshin wrote in a memo to employees. "With lower budgets and based on the forecasted work ahead, we had to tighten our belts across the board, and you will see that reflected in the layoff impacts."

## Cost Cutting

JPL previously laid off 530 employees [in February](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/mass-layoffs-hit-nasa>), which accounted for eight percent of its staff at the time, in response to [agency wide budget cuts](<https://futurism.com/nasa-starts-layoffs-after-budget-cuts>).

One issue is that the funds that the lab would receive for its role in the ambitious, multi-billion dollar [Mars Sample Return mission](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasas-mars-sample-return-flawed>) were sharply reduced from over $900 million to around just $300 million [this year](<https://www.planetary.org/space-policy/nasas-fy-2024-budget>). The mission's future [remains uncertain](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/experts-spacex-starship-samples-mars>), pending a further review that could decide its fate.

These latest cuts don't necessarily pertain to the Mars mission specifically, according to the memo, and were taken to fall within available funds for the 2025 federal fiscal year, which commenced in October.

"This reduction is spread across essentially all areas of the Lab including our technical, project, business, and support areas," Leshin wrote. "We have taken seriously the need to re-size our workforce, whether direct-funded (project) or funded on overhead (burden)."

Nonetheless, the workforce reduction is actually lower than what was projected a few months ago, Leshin said.

## Budget Won't Budge

NASA has struggled with its budget in recent years. The space agency fought for an increased budget for 2024, but was handed a two percent decrease, falling over $2 billion short of what it was seeking.

Along with mass layoffs, this has forced NASA to [abandon sending its VIPER rover](<https://futurism.com/nasa-scraps-rover-sends-deadweight>) to the Moon, despite already spending $450 million on the project.

It's all the more striking because the agency recently announced that it [generated over $75.6 billion](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-economic-growth-more-than-budget>) in US economic output last year, or about three times its budget. Even setting its scientific value aside, there's a strong argument to be made that, in the face of the sheer economic power it's generating, NASA isn't getting the money it deserves.

How president-elect Donald Trump's administration could affect NASA's financial future is also a question worth asking. But Leshin says the layoffs were happening regardless of who's president, and are unrelated to the outcome of the election.

**More on NASA:** *[NASA Still Trying to Figure Out Why Astronaut Was Hospitalized After Return to Earth](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-astronaut-hospitalization-reason>)*

## Author
At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/f-w-l.bsky.social>)