Blue Origin will slash 10% of its workforce
Feb 13, 2025, 10:57 AM
Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket lifts off from pad 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on its maiden flight on January 16, 2025 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Photo: Paul Hennessy/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(Photo: Paul Hennessy/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Kent-based Blue Origin is making cutbacks.
The Seattle Times reported Jeff Bezos’s rocket company is going to slash 10% of its workforce.
In an email to employees, CEO Dave Limp said the company’s growth has led to more red tape.
“We grew and hired incredibly fast in the last few years, and with that growth came more bureaucracy and less focus than we needed,” Limp’s email read, as obtained by KING 5. “It also became clear that the makeup of our organization must change to ensure our roles are best aligned with executing these priorities.”
More on MyNW: Boeing lays off nearly 400 more people in Washington, state reports
The plan is to cut workers in research and development, program and project management and engineering, along with some management, according to The Seattle Times.
There is no word yet on how the layoffs will affect the company’s workers here in Washington.
Last month, Blue Origin called off the debut launch of its massive new rocket because of technical trouble.
The 320-foot New Glenn rocket was supposed to blast off before dawn with a prototype satellite from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. But launch controllers had to deal with an unspecified rocket issue in the final minutes of the countdown and ran out of time. Once the countdown clock was halted, they immediately began draining all the fuel from the rocket.
Blue Origin did not immediately set a new launch date, saying the team needed more time to resolve the problem.
Other news: Murray calls Trump funding freeze “illegal and deeply harmful”
Contributing: Frank Lenzi, KIRO Newsradio; The Associated Press; Julia Dallas, MyNorthwest
