Dan Howe was not planning to jockey for a new engineering job this year.

The former chemical engineer and biofuels researcher at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland was furloughed two months ago. In August, PNNL laid him off, along with 90 other jobs being cut in recent weeks.

“It definitely wasn’t how I expected my career to end, having all the personal effects in my office boxed up and shipped to me,” Howe wrote in an email to the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business. “Felt pretty cold.”

Howe has applied for other engineering positions at local companies, but nothing has come through yet. It doesn’t help that he’ll be swimming in a deeper talent pool with more layoffs expected at PNNL. 

The lab began asking in mid-August for voluntary layoffs as the Tri-Cities’ largest employer sought to make cuts in response to anticipated federal spending reductions. 

According to information provided by Friends of PNNL, a grassroots group that has sprung up to support the lab and its staff amid the budget cuts, staff were expected to be laid off from selected departments, including human resources, operations, business systems, energy and environment, national security and more.

A late August staff memo from lab Director Steven Ashby obtained by the Journal indicated that not enough workers volunteered for the layoffs, meaning more involuntary layoffs would be necessary, even though the lab was on track to meet its revised financial targets for the 2025 fiscal year.

“Although we are not yet out of the woods, I am increasingly confident that we will weather this budget uncertainty with far fewer lost jobs than originally feared,” Ashby wrote in the memo. “I also am optimistic that PNNL is well positioned to compete for several new programs.”

Meanwhile, PNNL workers are left wondering if they don’t volunteer for the layoffs if they’ll be laid off anyway. 

“It is a very uncertain time,” said Mikaela Nickolds-Bourque, an administrative assistant at the lab. “Both my husband and I were told we were eligible (for the layoffs). We have two small children at home, and I don’t know what we’ll do if we’re both laid off.”

PNNL began bracing for reductions in early June after the White House released its proposed federal budget which included billions of dollars in cuts to three DOE programs with a large presence at the lab. 

Ashby sent a memo to staff at the time that said the lab could face significant layoffs if that budget is approved and hinted that plans were being developed to review potential staffing cuts. 

“Given the uncertainty we are facing, the Laboratory Leadership Team and I are reviewing options to prepare for (fiscal year) 2026, including reductions in direct and indirect staff,” Ashby wrote, adding, “I know that this message will be upsetting to many, and I wish I did not have to share it.” 

Lab spokesperson Dawn Zimmerman confirmed that Battelle, the lab’s operator, did offer a voluntary separation option to employees. However, the lab declined to provide further information, such as how many separations it is seeking or what departments will be affected, due to those being personnel actions. 

“Battelle has made every effort to minimize impacts to our workforce and will continue to do so,” Zimmerman said. 

The Journal obtained documents related to the lab’s Self-Select Voluntary Separation Program. According to an internal PNNL document from Aug. 18, employees in 53 operational units spread across 10 departments are eligible for the voluntary layoffs.

An FAQ document indicated separations could be finalized by early September. It also noted that not all lab employees are eligible for voluntary separations. Eligibility would be based on current staffing levels, budget constraints, needed organizational skills and the lab’s collective bargaining agreement.  

For those who are eligible and whose application to participate is accepted, their separation benefits will be: 

• One week of pay for each full year of continuous full-time equivalent service plus one-quarter of a week’s pay for each additional three months of continuous service, up to a maximum of 20 weeks. 
• Medical benefits through the end of separation month. 
• Eligibility for the DOE Displaced Workers Medical Benefits Program (DWMBP), if ineligible for coverage under another plan, or continued coverage of benefits under COBRA. 

Employees had seven days after being notified they were eligible for the voluntary layoffs to apply. Employees who did initially sign up could withdraw their application if they changed their mind, but only before Sept. 5. 

Voluntarily separated staff will not receive preference in hiring if they apply for other positions at the lab in the future. They also will have to repay their severance if they later become employed by DOE, the National Nuclear Security Administration or a DOE contractor within a year of leaving. 

“Participation is entirely voluntary. If, however, not enough employees elect to participate, involuntary separations will follow,” the document read. “Not volunteering does not exempt employees from future involuntary separation.”

Criticism amid cuts

The looming federal budget cuts have been derided by former lab administrators as well as local, federal and state lawmakers, both for their impact to PNNL and to the nation’s overall stature in the scientific community.

“The cuts proposed by President Trump are very large and would decimate certain scientific and engineering research programs at PNNL – research that helps people respond to climate change and reduces energy costs for people and businesses,” said Doug Ray, the lab’s former associate director, in an email. “The cuts to DOE and other federal research agencies proposed by the president would likely reduce economic growth and lead to an exodus of scientists and engineers to other countries.”

About 200 researchers from Washington State University’s Tri-Cities and Pullman campuses participated in the “Research Roundtable – Kill the Cuts” event at WSU Tri-Cities on Aug. 28. Organized by academic student employee union UAW 4591, the event highlighted the research being conducted in the WSU system that is under threat from Trump’s budget. 

“As researchers presented their critical research and the impact of their work on the community, the room faced a grim reminder: the Trump administration is proposing cuts to critical science that directly benefit working people,” the union said in a social media post after the event.