Battelle Memorial Institute, the government contractor operating Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, is eliminating 68 positions based primarily in Washington state as the venerable research institution grapples with federal funding uncertainties and shifting mission priorities under the current administration.
The layoffs were disclosed in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed with Washington’s Employment Security Department, revealing that the positions are scheduled to end between 18 November and 1 December. The filing provides a window into the employment impacts of federal budget uncertainty on one of the Pacific Northwest’s premier scientific research institutions.
In the WARN letter, Battelle acknowledged that “due to unforeseen business circumstances” the company was unable to provide the 60-day advance notices to impacted workers typically required under federal law, suggesting the funding situation deteriorated more rapidly than anticipated.
“As a result of funding uncertainties and evolving federal mission priorities, Battelle made great effort to avoid layoffs by reassigning work, reducing work hours and retaining staff on furlough status in the hope that additional funding would be realised,” the letter explained. “However, Battelle determined it is necessary to restructure our workforce and reduce staff in both research and operations.”
The geographic distribution of affected positions illustrates PNNL’s multi-site operations: 42 roles are based at the laboratory’s main campus in Richland, Washington; three are located in Seattle; three in Oregon; and 20 are remote positions that could be performed from various locations.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, a 60-year-old institution managed by the US Department of Energy, employed roughly 6,400 people last year. The laboratories perform fundamental research across diverse domains including energy systems, chemistry, data analytics, materials science, environmental science, and other science and technology fields critical to national security and economic competitiveness.
“Battelle and PNNL are grateful for the contributions of each impacted employee and remain committed to delivering on vital missions in science, energy, and national security,” stated PNNL spokesperson Dawn Zimmerman via email, offering the organisation’s public acknowledgment of affected workers’ contributions whilst emphasising continuity of mission despite workforce reductions.
The current layoffs represent the latest in a series of workforce adjustments Battelle has implemented in recent months. The contractor informed workers during summer that job reductions were anticipated given uncertainty surrounding the federal budget, providing employees with months of advance warning that their positions might be at risk even if specific individuals and timing remained unclear.
In September, Battelle laid off an undisclosed number of PNNL employees in what appears to have been an initial wave of reductions, though the company did not publicly specify how many positions were eliminated or which departments or research areas were affected. The contractor has also reduced medical benefits for retirees, a cost-cutting measure that affects former employees who had planned their retirement finances around the healthcare coverage they expected to receive.
US Senator Patty Murray of Washington reported in February that “a handful” of PNNL employees were released during the Trump administration’s initial wave of government workforce reductions following the inauguration. Those cuts were driven partly by efforts led by the Department of Government Efficiency, which was previously overseen by Elon Musk before his departure from that role, and by executive orders eliminating federal work associated with climate change research and diversity, equity and inclusion programmes.
The policy-driven nature of some workforce reductions raises questions about whether scientific research priorities are being determined by evidence-based mission needs or by ideological positions that favour certain research domains whilst defunding others regardless of their scientific merit or contribution to national interests.
According to the WARN filing, affected workers in the latest layoffs held diverse titles spanning technical, research, and administrative functions. Positions being eliminated include national security specialists who work on classified research protecting American interests; software, mechanical, nuclear and systems engineers who design and analyse complex technological systems; cyber security researchers addressing evolving digital threats; data scientists who extract insights from massive datasets; project managers who coordinate research initiatives; administrative coordinators who support operations; and other specialised roles.
The diversity of affected positions suggests the workforce reductions are not targeted at specific research programmes or departments but rather represent across-the-board cuts necessitated by overall funding constraints. This breadth of impact may indicate that Battelle exhausted options for strategic reductions that would preserve certain capabilities whilst eliminating others, instead resorting to more generalised workforce decreases.
