WASHINGTON — Just a month after the inaugural launch of its New Glenn rocket, Jeff Bezos-founded Blue Origin said it is cutting about 10% of its workforce.
The layoffs affect roughly 1,400 of the company’s nearly 14,000 employees – mostly concentrated in Florida, Texas and Washington. Blue Origin employs about 350 people in Huntsville but it was not disclosed how many will be afffected by the layoffs.
CEO Dave Limp announced the company-wide layoffs as Blue Origin moves to cut costs and ramp up rocket launches. Employees were notified by email today – those who were laid off and those whose employment was continuing.
According to Reuters, Limp wrote that employees in some engineering, research and development, and “program/project management” positions will lose their jobs in the layoffs. He told employees in the message that the company is also “thinning out our layers of management.”
“We will continue to invest, invent, and hire hundreds of positions in areas that will help us achieve our goals and best serve our customers,” Limp wrote. “This year alone, we will land on the Moon, deliver a record number of incredible engines, and fly New Glenn and New Shepard on a regular cadence.”
Blue Origin manufactures BE-4 and BE-3U engines at its plant in Huntsvillei’s Cummings Research Park.
