PASADENA, Calif.—NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena is expected to lay off about 325 workers Wednesday, affecting roughly 5 percent of its workforce, as it copes with continued concerns about its overall funding.
The cuts were announced Tuesday in a memo to the staff by JPL Director Laurie Leshin. She said the layoffs will occur on Wednesday, when all JPL employees were instructed to work from home.
Leshin said that the number of planned layoffs “is lower than projected a few months ago thanks in part to the hard work of so many people across JPL.”
“The workforce assessment conducted as part of this process has been both extensive and thorough, and although we can never have perfect insight into the future, I sincerely believe that after this action we will be at a more stable workforce level moving forward,” Leshin wrote….