Sandia National Laboratories to cut up to 3% of workforce by early fall

Sandia National Laboratories on Thursday announced plans to lay off up to 510 employees.

The news comes nearly two months into the tenure of new Director Laura McGill, who told the Journal when she started in May that the “workforce is in a good place.”

The plan will reduce Sandia’s workforce of nearly 17,000 by between 1% and 3%, which would represent 170 to 510 workers. The “realignment” should finish by early fall, spokesperson Kenny Vigil said via email. It’s not clear when the layoffs will start.

“Sandia is taking proactive steps to ensure the Labs’ long-term sustainability and continue delivering on its critical national security mission,” Vigil said in a statement. “Sandia has developed a restructuring plan to help reduce costs.”

The “restructuring plan” includes a voluntary separation program, if approved by the National Nuclear Security Administration, and limiting external hiring, Vigil said.

The layoffs could possibly stem from a lack of funding for renewable energy work in the labs’ proposed fiscal year 2026 budget. The proposed budget shows $0 in areas such as geothermal, wind and solar technologies.

The layoffs could amount to a big blow for Sandia, which has grown its workforce steadily from 15,533 in FY22 to 16,915 in FY24, according to the labs’ economic reports.

Sandia’s main complex is in Albuquerque, where 13,299 workers are employed, and it has a second principal laboratory in Livermore, California. It also has a presence in Hawaii, Nevada and Washington, D.C.

It’s not clear if the layoffs will be focused in Albuquerque or not.

McGill, who spoke to the Journal in May, said she was worried about how changes at a federal level could impact the labs, in response to a question. At the time, she was more directly referencing recent turmoil at the NNSA, when news of layoffs — and then rehiring — was happening.

“Our federal partners are absolutely key to our ability to work,” McGill said.