The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday began plans to lay off 10% of its current workforce, people inside and outside the agency said, with some of them requesting anonymity due to fear of retribution. The numbers were presented to NOAA employees and managers were asked to submit names of positions for layoffs to agency headquarters, which will then go to NOAA’s parent agency, the Department of Commerce, on Wednesday, the people said.
The new cuts come after earlier rounds of Trump administration firings and encouraged retirements at NOAA, plus the elimination of nearly all new employees last month. After this upcoming round of cuts, NOAA will have eliminated about one out of four jobs since President Donald Trump took office in January.
On top of all the job losses, cuts in research grants to universities will also make it harder for the U.S. to keep improving its weather forecasts and better monitor what’s happening to the planet, [former NOAA chief scientist Craig McLean] said.
“People are silently watching the United States decline as a technological leader,” McLean said. “America got to the moon, but our weather forecasts won’t be the greatest.”
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