JPL Slashes 550 Jobs in Fourth Round of NASA Layoffs as Budget Woes Mount

Monday, October 20, 2025

The 2025 Jet Propulsion Laboratory layoffs took place on October 14, 2025, when NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, dismissed 550 employees.^[1] This action cut 11 percent of the lab’s staff and formed the fourth round of such reductions in two years.^[2]

The cuts stemmed from federal budget limits and a push to match staff levels to funded projects.
JPL manages NASA’s robotic space missions, including the Perseverance and Curiosity rovers on Mars.^[3] Employees in engineering, science, and management received layoff notices by email that day. Some left the site with security escorts. Union representatives described the event as a major hit to team spirit.

JPL has faced staff cuts since early 2024. The first three rounds, along with retirements, dropped the workforce by one-third overall.^[4] These steps responded to flat or declining NASA funding. The U.S. president’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposal sought $18.8 billion for the agency, a 24 percent drop from current amounts.^[5] Congress has not approved this plan, but uncertainty drove the lab’s decisions.

JPL director Dave Gallagher sent a memo to staff on October 13, 2025, outlining the changes.^[6] He noted the layoffs would not affect ongoing missions directly. The lab aims to focus on high-priority work, such as the Psyche asteroid probe, launched in 2023.

California lawmakers voiced concern soon after the announcement. U.S. Representative Judy Chu called the layoffs a loss for science and the local economy.^[7] She highlighted JPL’s ties to technologies like GPS and medical imaging. State Senator Sasha Renée Pérez warned of talent leaving for private companies and pushed for more federal support.
Protests occurred outside NASA’s Washington headquarters in September 2025, before this round of cuts.^[8]

Demonstrators, including scientists and students, opposed shifts toward commercial space efforts. On social media, former JPL workers shared accounts of abrupt exits.
The reductions may delay projects like the Mars Sample Return, already behind schedule. This mission plans to retrieve and return Martian rocks for study on Earth. JPL’s Deep Space Network handles data from distant probes, including those studying black holes and Earth’s climate.

Fewer experts could raise risks in spacecraft assembly and data analysis.
Private firms such as SpaceX handle some crewed launches, but JPL leads in uncrewed exploration. Observers describe the cuts as a potential loss of skilled workers, which might benefit competitors like China in space mapping.
JPL provided severance pay, job search aid, and counseling to those affected.Local officials in La Cañada Flintridge scheduled job fairs for the workers, many of whom support the regional economy.

As of October 20, 2025, Congress continues budget talks that could influence future NASA funding.