SpaceX, a $31 billion company (as per Equidate), decides to get “leaner“, reducing its manpower by 10% i.e. cutting off near about 600 employees.
The news, that was first released this Friday by Los Angeles Times, stated that the company is under financial compulsion because of its ambitious attempt to get two projects off the ground.
On Friday, January 11 at 7:31 a.m. PST, 15:31 UTC, SpaceX successfully launched the eighth and final set of satellites in a continuation of 75 satellites for Iridium’s next-generation satellite constellation, Iridium NEXT.
Later, on the same day, President Gwynne Shotwell mentioned about the cutoff via E-mail sent to the company employees stating about the financial pressure the company has undergone because of which it has to lay off 10% of its workforce. However, it is still not clear which sector or division of the reputed company may have been most affected by this decision.
In a statement, SpaceX said, “in order to meet the needs of its customers SpaceX will have to part its ways with some of its best and most talented members. The company is grateful for their valued contribution till date, but due to an unavoidable situation, they have to take the most difficult decision which otherwise would not have been necessary.
Elon Musk led the company, further made clear that the affected employees would be provided with the full help in job searches and will be offering a minimum of eight weeks’ pay to the cut-off workers.
