INL Employees Wait For Layoff List
Eleven days: That’s how long Idaho National Laboratory employees will have to wait to find out exactly how many of them will be laid off.
Battelle Energy Alliance, which operates the lab, announced on Thursday that it will eliminate as many as 185 workers by the end of March. Employees can leave voluntarily until Feb. 21.
The INL employs about 8,000 people,, including Clean-Up Project workers and those employed by various contractors. But the layoffs only apply to the 4,200 BEA workers.
The news came by email at about 11 a.m. on Thursday.
“It’s a very difficult position to be in, but one that we’ve had to kind of come to,” said Mark Holubar, INL’s director of human resources and diversity.
The message announced a “workforce restructuring” by BEA. That translates to as many as 185 workers facing layoffs. INL officials said the cuts will focus on support positions, such as graphic artists and human resources, rather than the people who are actually in labs doing research.
“There’s no specific area, although most reductions impacted in indirect administrative support functions,” said Holubar.
Between now and Feb. 21, employees can choose to walk away voluntarily in mid-March. After that, INL directors will determine how many people will lose their jobs.
Holubar said this comes after months of cutting costs elsewhere.
“Fuel, commodities that we use here at the laboratory, continue to rise, so it’s really a matter of striking balance between these rising costs … a bit of a drop in business volume for the lab and a need to bring all that balance,” said Holubar.
This isn’t the first round of cuts for the INL, but it is the biggest. Last spring, 14 workers voluntarily left the Special Manufacturing Complex.
“And in September, we also had a voluntary process, and 92 people at that time left,” said Holubar.
Just recently, the Office of Nuclear Energy announced an uptick in funding, but Holubar said that only accounts for 45 percent of the lab’s total funding.
Cuts at the federal level have also reduced funding. Holubar said the INL is getting less money from the departments of Defense and Energy.
The INL said those who are laid off will get a severance package and continued health benefits. They’ll also be able to work with the Department of Labor to find a new job.
