Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has begun to lay off operations, lab directorate and research staff following federal funding cuts to the Department of Energy.
Roughly 15-20% of staffers within the research department have been laid off, according to several Berkeley Lab employees who chose to remain anonymous for fear of retribution.
Lab Director Michael Witherell announced upcoming layoffs to lab employees in an internal video July 10. Witherell said research labs would begin layoffs once the federal budget was finalized, but layoffs have begun prior to the budget’s completion.
“I didn’t know this was coming (so) soon,” said a staffer who asked to remain anonymous. “I thought we were still waiting for the congressional budget.”
Many of the research division projects impacted were those relating to energy and the environment, according to another staffer.
Research staffers in the lab’s Energy Analysis and Environmental Impact, or EAEI, Division were offered the opportunity to participate in a Voluntary Separation Program, or voluntary layoffs, in early September, according to internal lab emails. The program, which staffers could elect to participate in between Sept. 3 and Sept. 18, provided the same benefits and severance policy as being laid off, with no additional incentives.
Research division employees were also offered preferential rehiring in the future, according to several sources. However, those who opted for preferential rehiring allegedly would not receive their severance package and the offer would only stand for a year, according to one staffer.
Some employees were also given a reduction in time of up to 50%, but could not opt in to the Voluntary Separation Program, according to internal lab emails.
Several employees who have been laid off received notification in the past two weeks, staffers told The Daily Californian.
“I feel kind of relieved,” one laid-off staffer said. “I’ve known this was coming for so many months, and it’s finally just over.”
Last week, the — department held an internal meeting with staffers to discuss layoffs and who was impacted, according to several staffers. Recently laid off staffers were not in attendance at this meeting.
An internal Aug. 21 email from Witherell confirmed that several operations and lab directorate employees had received layoff notifications.
“These were very hard decisions to make, and we recognize that these changes significantly affect our people and their families,” Witherell said in the email.
Eight new employees were introduced in an EAEI meeting Oct. 22, according to one anonymous source. This follows several EAEI employees being laid off over the course of the past month.
Several staffers said they anticipate further layoffs as the lab’s funding may continue to decrease due to federal cuts.
“I think people are apprehensive about a future which I think is fairly likely given the circumstances,” one staffer said. “I know that (for) certain research areas at the lab, based on the proposed budgets from Congress, a lot of their funding is entirely gone or 70-80% (gone).”
Berkeley Lab’s media team declined to comment.