Big blow to NASA, 3870 employees opt to mass resign under Donald Trump's workforce reduction plan due to...

NASA is cutting nearly 20% of its workforce, amid US President Donald Trump's administration's plan to reduce the size of the federal government. NASA has introduced a special voluntary resignation program known as Deferred resignation Program, allowing employees to resign and leave the space agency. Approximately 3,870 NASA employees are resigning under this special program. NASA's decision comes amid effort to make agency 'more efficient and streamlined.'

NASA has issued a statement, saying “Safety remains a top priority for our agency as we balance the need to become a more streamlined and more efficient organization and work to ensure we remain fully capable of pursuing a Golden Era of exploration and innovation, including to the Moon and Mars.” 

NASA' special 'voluntary exits' program

This is a second wave of 'voluntary exits' from NASA since Donald Trump's return to the president's office. In first round earlier this year, where about 870 employees, nearly 5% of the staff chose to leave the space agency. The latest round that took place in early June with a deadline to opt in by July 25, around 3,000 additional personnel, about 16.4% of the agency, choose to leave. All together, NASA is expecting to maintain only 14,000 a civil servant workforce employees.

Why is NASA laying off?

NASA is avoiding forced layoffs, and opting for voluntary resignations (Deferred Resignation Program). this ensures that if the employees chose to leave, they will get certain benefits and on the other hand NASA will be able to reduce headcounts. Janet Petro, former acting NASA administrator, explained, “The reason we are doing this is to minimize any involuntary workforce reductions in the future. That is our whole goal — minimizing that.”

Concerns regarding jo cuts in NASA

With voluntary resignations, biggest concerns are how will NASA carry out big ambitious missions like Moon mission, Mars explorations,  deep-space robotic missions, etc. Hundreds and thousands of employees have raised concern on the quick termination at a cost of institutional knowledge. A letter titled "The Voyager Declaration", signed by hundreds of current and former NASA employees, has been sent to interim administrator Sean Duffy, also head of the US Transportation Department. “Thousands of NASA civil servant employees have already been terminated, resigned or retired early, taking with them highly specialised, irreplaceable knowledge crucial to carrying out NASA’s mission,” it says.