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Personnel News

All Hands Meeting: Downsizing and RIFs

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
February 15, 1995

General Armstrong hosted an all-hands brief on the downsizing effort yesterday… not alot of new information and many questions were left unanswered (sound familiar?)…
Armstrong insisted that NASA is proceeding along it’s original schedule and intends to meet all reduction goals by FY99. Armstrong explained that the remarks the President made during his State of the Union address indicating that all reductions would be achieved by mid next year were not taken as direction by the heads of the agencies. Armstrong reported that about 750 employees had submitted buy-out requests (only 60 from HQs) and that additional measures must be taken, especially at HQs (though he insisted a RIF is still not “planned”.
Nevertheless, our personnel folks are researching RIF procedures and running the numbers to understand the personnel, “diversity” and budget impacts). When asked if delayed buy-outs would allowed (GSA is trying this approach with some success – if employees commit to the buy-out now, they can delay leaving until December), Armstrong said “in general, no…not unless the employee had a mission critical job”. (Goldin has stated that if a RIF is needed, the Agency’s diversity objectives would be preserved) A Headquarters plan should be in place by May 15 (Congressman Sensenbrenner, House Science Authorizations Subcommittee, has asked for the plan by April 14… probably won’t be ready by then).
The union has sent a letter to General Dailey asking that they be allowed to develop an independent approach to restructuring and downsizing HQs… no response yet…
Now for the latest rumors… Goldin has asked OMB to pursue legislation to authorize “directed retirements”… (conventional wisdom says it would take years to get such a bill through Congress)… in a meeting with Gore during which other agencies complained that they could not function with the proposed cuts, Goldin volunteered additional cuts at NASA (this one came from several “reliable” sources)…

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.