This was profoundly disappointing. Between this and the contractor layoffs in January, the lab has lost over 600 people at the start of this year. More than 10% of the workforce.

I see complaints here on HN and elsewhere that so many tech workers feel like they're squandering their gifts and time convincing people to click on ads. NASA (and JPL in particular) stands out as an institution where talented and passionate folks are working on things that feel meaningful and that will pay off over the span of decades and generations, increasing our knowledge of the universe and changing our perspective on our place in it, and developing valuable technologies that will have impacts on broader society outside of space exploration in the process.

Really sad to see so many people lose their dream jobs today.