NSF is the nation’s leading agency that funds scientific and engineering research, education and training. It works with collaborative research centers around the world, and has poured troves of resources into emerging tech fields like quantum computing and artificial intelligence. It also supports a cybersecurity scholarship program that gives recipients opportunities to work in the cybersecurity missions of federal, state, local or tribal governments.
In response to the terminations, NSF staffers based at its headquarters in Alexandria, Va., organized at 1 p.m. in the lobby of the building to show support for their colleagues, one person said.
“Last week the President issued Executive Order, Implementing the President’s “Department of Government Efficiency” Workforce Optimization Initiative [whitehouse.gov] (“Workforce Optimization E.O.”),” an NSF spokesperson told Nextgov/FCW in an email. “To ensure compliance with this E.O. the National Science Foundation has released 168 employees from Federal service effective today. We thank these employees for their service to NSF and their contributions to advance the agency mission.”
Some of the 168 people impacted by Tuesday’s terminations worked within physics-centric scientific directorates, including both probationary period staff as well as “expert” employee appointments with specialized research backgrounds hired on part-time bases.
“I don’t know how they made the decision for who to notify, but my guess is that it’s pretty blunt … which is not as strategic as it could have been, or not as thoughtful,” another person familiar with the layoffs told Nextgov/FCW. “Morale has certainly been higher in the past.”
The Trump administration last week began firing thousands of federal employees who are in their probationary periods, typical ..
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