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Latest story: “If you are going to fire us, let us know.”--National Science Foundation union
17 Feb 2025
In anticipation of mass firings this week, the union representing more than 1000 employees at the National Science Foundation (NSF) today asked the agency to explain how it is implementing the Trump’s administration order to shrink the federal workforce by dismissing those designated as probationary employees.
“Put us out of our agony,” says one NSF employee who received the 17 February letter sent by Local 3403 of the American Federation of Government Employees to NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. “If you are going to fire us, let us know.”
The letter, shared with Science, asks Panchanathan for the criteria the agency used to draw up a pool of those eligible to be fired under a 20 January memo from the White House Office of Personnel Management. The union also asks how many will be axed, when it will happen, the reason for the dismissals, and whether those fired will receive any help in finding a new job.
Federal agencies have historically been given considerable leeway in determining when someone moves from probationary, or conditional, status to permanent. At NSF, the shift typically occurred after 1 year.
But length of service isn’t the only factor. Long-time permanent employees who are promoted or take on duties within the agency unrelated to their previous job can also be put on probationary status, and thus, would fall under the purview of the OPM memo.
NSF also employs hundreds of scientists on leave from academic institutions. Those people, known as rotators, are not covered by the OPM memo because they are not federal employees.
The union letter asks Panchanathan for a “prompt reply” to its list of questions. NSF declined to comment on its plans or its interpretation of the OPM memo.
“We don’t know what NSF is planning to do,” says one NSF employee. “But based on what is happening at other agencies, it would be naïve to think it won’t happen at NSF as well.”—Jeffrey Mervi