JSC NASA people (Houston, Center: layoffs, moving, budget)

[lucaskillians]

I'll be starting there soon next week. I heard on the news of potential layoffs coming soon but mostly in Kennedy Space Center but JSC is also affected.

Weldon Amendment Forces NASA to Reveal Massive Layoffs | SpaceRef - Your Space Reference

This job required me to relocate so it is a big move for me. I'm wondering from people who is working at JSC right now if they'll be affected. From previous history, are these layoff news over exaggerated? I'm hoping it is.

[Narkon]

It really depends on if you are a Fedral NASA employee or on what contract you are hired on for.
If you work for a company NASA contracts when contracts or projects end you might have to find new ones before you are let go (It depends on the company your working with). I worked for a company with a NASA contract. I moved here for NASA. It was on my list of BIG DREAMS growing up away from it. I found out that they were cutting the project I was hired for the next month after I got here. I was last in so I was on the short list for lay offs. I sqeaked by with getting a phone call to go to another project just as my boss was handing over the pink slip. It would have been aweful for my family had I offically gotten the pink slip after moving here only a month earlier. I am no longer with NASA as my personal experiance was not good. At the end of each year when the budget dwidled I wondered if I would have a job. I was layed off with a couple hundred people after 5 years of it. What I experianced was based on the contracting company I worked for. I have friends who are with other companies and are satisfied with the work, have not had the problems I did and accept the fact that they need to keep their ear to the ground to make sure they are on projects that are continuing. Many of the people I was laid off with have returned to NASA under another contract which is pretty common. NASA Fed employees are more secure as NASA lets contract workers go before their employees.

I am happy about the move in general. We like the Houston area. It has a lot to offer and jobs are plentiful. When I was laid off I found a better job in three weeks.