Around 400 job-seekers, at least half of whom were affected by a recent JPL laid off, attended a job fair at Long Beach Friday, Feb. 23.
Space Beach Job Fair, hosted by the city of Long Beach, aimed to connect aerospace companies in the city with skilled folks, including the more than 500 employees recently displaced by layoffs at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.
Activity at The WorkPlace, the venue for the job fair, surged shortly after the event’s scheduled 9 a.m. start time, as eager job seekers arrived with resumes in hand. Within an hour, JetZero, a Long Beach aviation startup, made the first job offer of the day.
“The excitement in the room, both on the side of the employers and the prospective employees, is palpable,” said Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson, who stopped by the venue in the morning to chat with attendees. “Here at Space Beach, the energy is real, and there are companies who can’t hire fast enough.”
Earlier this month, JPL revealed plans to lay off around 530 employees, which includes 40 contractors, as part of a cost-saving initiative.
These layoffs constitute 8% of the Lab’s total workforce.
JPL had been preparing itself for a $300 million budget cut from NASA, a 63% drop from the previous year, which primarily affects a program focused on bringing Martian samples to earth for analysis.
Even prior to this anticipated cut, JPL had been facing pressure to reduce expenses, resulting in a hiring freeze, a reduction in some Mars Sample Return mission contracts, budget cuts and the elimination of some on-site contractors, JPL Director Laurie Leshin said previously.
Laid off workers would receive their salaries for 60 days, and eligible employees would also be provided with severance packages and transitional benefits, such as placement services, JPL said.
Yet, for 38-year-old Chijioke Umeh, who has a toddler at home and a wife expecting their second child, the timing of the laid off couldn’t have been more…
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