Battelle Memorial Institute, the government contractor operating Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), is laying off 68 workers based primarily in Washington state.
The layoffs were disclosed in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filed with the state’s Employment Security Department. The jobs are slated to end between Nov. 18 and Dec. 1.
In the WARN letter, Battelle stated that “due to unforeseen business circumstances” the company was not able to provide 60-days notices to impacted workers.
“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 realized,” the letter explained. “However, Battelle determined it is necessary to restructure our workforce and reduce staff in both research and operations.”
Forty-two of the roles are based at PNNL’s main campus in Richland, Wash.; three are located in Seattle; three in Oregon; and 20 are remote.
PNNL is a 60-year-old institution managed by the U.S. Department of Energy and last year employed roughly 6,400 people. The labs perform basic research in areas including energy, chemistry, data analytics and other science and technology fields.
“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,” said PNNL spokesperson Dawn Zimmerman, via email.
Battelle told workers this summer that job reductions were coming given uncertainty in the federal budget, the Tri-City Herald reported. In September the company laid off an undisclosed number of PNNL employees and it has reduced medical benefits for retires, according to the Herald.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., reported in February that “a handful” of PNNL employees were let go in the Trump administration’s initial wave of government layoffs. The cuts were driven by efforts including the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which was previously led by Elon Musk, and executive orders eliminating work associated with climate change and diversity, equity and inclusion.
According to the WARN filing, affected workers in the latest cuts held titles including national security specialist; software, mechanical, nuclear or systems engineer; cyber security researcher; data scientist; project manager; administrative coordinator and other roles.
