Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Lab and home of Mars rovers loses 10% of its staff
By 
Rebecca Trager2025-10-15T13:53:00
The dismissal of 550 JPL workers is the fourth round of recent layoffs at the lab, prompting fears of a brain drain
Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California, which designed, built, and operated all five of the agency’s successful Mars rovers, has announced that it will layoff more than 10% of its 5500 employees. The news was met with distress from the research community and beyond.
The lab’s director, Dave Gallagher, explained that its leadership is ‘taking steps to restructure and establish an appropriate size to ensure future success’. He explained that these workforce terminations are part of a reorganisation effort that began in July and are unrelated to the current US government shutdown that was triggered on 1 October. The cuts will affect 550 JPL employees across the lab’s technical, business and support areas, Gallagher stated. They were notified on 14 October.