New Transition Plan Calls For Net Reduction Of 3,500 Jobs

NASA is adjusting its projection for job losses at the end of the shuttle program, and providing one of the few bits of good economic news this week.

NASA now says the retirement of its shuttle fleet will mean the loss of 4,500 positions by 2011, not the earlier estimate of 6,400 by 2012. While 4,500 still sounds bad, the number doesn't account for a thousand new jobs involved in the Constellation program which will follow the shuttle.

The net loss of about 3,500 jobs is about 45 percent less than that first alarming estimate.

Florida Today reports US Senator Bill Nelson has pushed NASA to offset job losses by bringing in research projects and other types of work. The Orlando Democrat now calls the latest version of the job-impact report mixed news.

"This is better than losing 6,400 jobs, but it's still a cut that's going to hurt," Nelson said.

Republican US Senator Mel Martinez, an Orlando Republican, praised NASA's effort to mitigate the transition, and called the skilled Kennedy Space Center workforce "a national asset.

"It is critical that we find ways to make sure this talented work force...is maintained and fully engaged as we move rapidly forward with Constellation and look to expand commercial activities at the Cape," he said.

NASA spokesman Michael Curie told the paper the shifting numbers represent a clearer emerging picture of which displaced employees will be candidates for new jobs in the Constellation program, made possible in part by recently-awarded Constellation contracts.

The employment news may actually improve dramatically by the time the shuttle fleet is actually retired. NASA's report does not include developments outside NASA, including potential growth by commercial providers such as SpaceX, and growth in the space tourism industry which are difficult to predict.

FMI: Read The Full Report (.pdf)