NASA’s Workforce to Shrink by 21% to about 14,000

Saturday, July 26, 2025

SAEDNEWS: The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) expects its workforce to decrease by 3,780 to about 14,000, the agency’s spokesperson Cheryl Warner said.

NASA’s Workforce to Shrink by 21% to about 14,000

According to her, NASA seeks to "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."

Warner told TASS that some 3,870 employees (21% of NASA’s workforce) agreed to take part in two deferred resignation programs, which provide staff members with an opportunity to resign voluntarily in return for additional payment or other concessions.

"NASA’s expected remaining civil servant workforce following both deferred resignation programs, as well as normal attrition (about 500) over the same time period: about 14,000," the spokesperson specified, adding that "these numbers may fluctuate."

Earlier, US President Donald Trump’s administration initiated major staff reductions in a number of agencies. Entrepreneur Elon Musk, who until recently headed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), was actively involved in the work.