The Jeff Bezos-owned space company Blue Origin has announced plans to lay off around 10 percent of its workforce. The company currently has more than 10,000 workers, according to Bloomberg, meaning the layoffs could affect around 1,000 employees.
In an email obtained by noti.group, Blue Origin CEO David Limp told employees that fast growth led to “more bureaucracy and less focus than we needed.” As a result, Limp said the company is “thinning out our layers of management” and cutting employees across engineering, project management, as well as research and development. “The makeup of our organization must change to ensure our roles are best aligned with executing these priorities,” Limp wrote.
Last month, Blue Origin successfully launched its New Glenn rocket, its SpaceX competitor that will transport satellites and other cargo to space. In his memo, Limp also highlighted plans to land on the Moon in 2025, as well as increase the frequency of New Glenn and New Shepard flights.
“Let me add that I am extremely confident in the enormous opportunities in front of us and have never been more optimistic about our mission,” Limp wrote. “We will continue to invest, invent, and hire hundreds of positions in areas that will help us achieve our goals and best serve our customers. We will be a stronger, faster, and more customer-focused company that consistently meets and exceeds our commitments.”
You can read Limp’s full memo below.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
