Sandia National Laboratories Director Laura McGill anticipates “no further job losses” following layoffs for approximately 400 people to be completed by October, she told Source NM on Monday.
McGill, who assumed leadership at Sandia in May, presented an update Monday for lawmakers attending the Science Technology and Telecommunications committee meeting in Albuquerque. She gave an overview of the labs’ programs, which primarily focus on nuclear weapons research, and employ most employees at the main campus in Albuquerque.
In June, McGill initially announced proposed 1% to 3% cuts of Sandia Labs’ workforce of nearly 17,000 people, a departure from the job growth Sandia had reported every year since 2011.
On Monday, she confirmed to lawmakers that 2% of employees took a voluntary severance package, offsetting costs from higher salaries and reducing overhead. The restructuring will be complete by October, according to Kenny Vigil, a spokesperson at Sandia Labs.
After the meeting, McGill told Source NM that the job losses were mostly in “support positions,” which she described as non-contract work for federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Defense or the National Nuclear Security Administration.
“Instead, it’s all the other things we do to support those activities, around administrative work, the planning work and all the other things that have to be in place to do the technical work,” McGill said.
In response to emailed questions seeking greater specificity about the eliminated positions, spokespeople at Sandia said just over three-quarters are from Albuquerque and the remaining layoffs are at the Livermore, California location.
McGill faced questions from lawmakers on the labs’ future and potential federal fallout, given the Trump Administration’s cuts to science grants and medical research. McGill noted that the laboratories do not have their full budgets yet, but she expects static funding or increases for nuclear weapons work, despite cuts to U.S. Department of Energy programs.
The NNSA received a $6 billion increase to its budget for designing, handling and storing nuclear weapons, and contracts with the NNSA account for more than 60% of Sandia’s work, McGill told lawmakers.
“As far as the federal budgets go, we’re in great shape,” she told lawmakers.
Rep. Joy Garratt (D-Albuquerque) asked McGill if the laboratories had received a directive regarding “diversity, equity and inclusion,” which the Trump administration has vowed to cut from universities and the federal government.
“We’ve had some direction from the administration to talk about our outward-facing websites, but it hasn’t affected anything we’re doing internally,” McGill said. “We continue to support all our employees. We just believe in belonging.”
After the meeting, McGill told Source NM she hopes to reassure the workforce that further layoffs are not coming.
“We know there’s a lot of needs out there, but I can say we fully expect our programs to continue to be supported,” she said.
